Control of skin colour and polyphenol oxidase activity in santol fruit by dipping in organic acid solution

This laboratory experiment was carried out at the Department of Agricultural Technology, Mahasarakham University, Northeast Thailand during July and August 2008. The experiment aimed to determine an effective natural organic acid that would delay the unattractive skin browning of santol fruit, while at the same time not damaging the quality of the fruit. The experiment included a study of the fruit's polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, phenolic content and quinone content, as they relate to colour and a study of total soluble solid content, pH, titratable acidity and vitamin C content as they relate to fruit quality. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications was used. Each replication consisted of 10 fruits. Santol fruit was harvested at 145 days after full bloom and dipped for 30 min in aqueous solutions of two organic acids that were used as treatments, i.e., 0% for T1 (control), 5% citric acid for T2, 5% ascorbic acid for T3, 10% citric acid for T4 and 10% ascorbic acid for T5 and stored at room temperature (28 degrees C, 90% R.H.) to investigate the effect of the acid on fruit weight, skin colour, PPO activity and other internal parameters. The results showed that the most appropriate anti-browning agent for santol fruit was found with T2. It gave the highest mean values, 57.37 and 55.95, of brightness (L*) at 4 and 10 Days After Storage (DAS), respectively. In addition, PPO activity of flesh tissue was lowest for T2 with mean values of 0.0078 to 0.0092 by 0 and 300 S, respectively. The phenolic content in the flesh tissue significantly increased with an increase in numbers ofDAS, whereas the reverse was found with the pH level in the fruits. They were lowest for T2, with mean values of 6.00, by 10 DAS. There were no significant differences among the treatments in any of the measured Total Soluble Solids (TSS), Titratable Acidity (TA) and vitamin C content.