Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
osmotic solution concentration, but increased with increas-
ing slice thickness. The water loss, solids gain, and weight
loss increased with increasing osmotic solution concen-
tration and immersion time but decreased with increasing
slice thickness. The osmotically dried samples were highly
acceptable. Samples pre-osmosed in 60 Brix and 68 Brix
were significantly better than those pre-osmosed in 51 Brix
solution.
An alcoholic beverage made from cashew apple was an-
alyzed by GC-MS and a GC-olfactometry technique (Osme
analysis) (Garruti et al., 2006). The esters, methyl 3-methyl
butyrate, ethyl 3-methyl butyrate, methyl butyrate, ethyl
butyrate, trans -ethyl crotonate, and methyl 3-methyl pen-
tanoate were found important to the sweet, fruity, and
cashew-like aroma of the beverage. The most unpleas-
ant odor was due to 2-methyl butanoic acid, described as
sweaty.
Traditionally, annonas are propagated by seeds, but the
resulting plants vary widely in yield and fruit quality. Vege-
tative propagation by budding or grafting is recommended
to obtain superior varieties and early high yields.
Harvesting and postharvest handling
Cherimoya fruit generally ripens 5-7 months after polli-
nation. Timing of harvest is crucial—the fruits should be
picked when still firm and allowed to soften at room tem-
perature. If picked too early, the fruit will not ripen properly
and will become mealy. Overripe fruit can split, resulting
in rapid decay (Love et al., 2007).
Harvested fruits are generally size graded and packed in
single layers to prevent bruising. In some retail markets,
individual fruits are placed inside foam netting to prevent
bruising.
Usually consumed unprocessed, marketing of this highly
appreciated fruit is hampered by rapid enzymatic browning
and softening (Alique et al., 1994). Given high susceptibil-
ity to mechanical damage, the shelf life is limited to less
than 1 week at ambient temperature.
Refrigerated storage prolongs the postharvest life of the
cherimoya fruit. Fruit stored at 22 C reached peak ripeness
in 4-5 days; storage at 12 C delayed the process by al-
most one week (Gutierrez et al., 1994). However, it does
not withstand temperatures below 8 10 C without devel-
oping chilling injury symptoms (Gutierrez et al., 1992),
although Alique et al. (1994) reported that cherimoya cul-
tivars, 'Fino de Jete,' could be held at 8 C for up to 12 days
without chilling injury damage.
Because of cherimoya's sensitivity to chilling injury
during extended cold storage, short-term controlled atmo-
sphere treatment (high CO 2 /low O 2 ) has been shown to de-
lay ripening and prolong its postharvest shelf life (Sanchez
et al., 1998a; Alique, 1995; Zamorano et al., 1999). This
treatment suppresses changes associated with cherimoya
ripening, such as autocatalytic ethylene production, cell
wall degrading enzymes, and lignin degradation (Mu noz
et al., 1999; Assis et al., 2001).
The beneficial effect of high CO 2 levels in chilling tol-
erance has been linked with the coordinated accumulation
of chitinase-like and 1,3-
CHERIMOYA
The subtropical cherimoya ( Annona cherimola Mill) be-
longs to the genus Annona of the family Annonaceae. A
native of the Andean valleys of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
Ecuador, and Peru, it has become naturalized throughout the
tropical highlands and subtropical areas of South America.
Currently, the main producers and exporters of this fruit
are Spain, Chile, Australia, and California. The roundish,
heart-shaped, green fruit is known to be one of the most
delicious South American fruits.
Fruit and plant characteristics
The spreading, low-branched trees can grow up to 9 m
tall but are usually kept shorter to facilitate harvest (Love
et al., 2007). The leaves are single and alternate, ovate to
elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, dark green and slightly hairy
on top, and velvety green at the bottom. Leaves of dif-
ferent cultivars and seedling trees vary a lot in shape and
can be 7-15 cm long and 4-9 cm wide. The fragrant flow-
ers are solitary or in groups of two or three, made up of
three fleshy, greenish-brown oblong outer petals and three
smaller, pinkish inner petals.
The fruit is made up of many corpels or concave sections,
with scaly green or yellowish green skin. It is 10-20 cm
long and 7-10 cm in width, weighing 150-500 g. The fruit
pulp is creamy white, fleshy, soft, with custard-like texture
and sweet, slightly sour flavor, which can be characterized
as a blend of pineapple, strawberry, and banana. Ripe fruits
contain numerous black or brown seeds, which are easily
separated from the pulp. Varieties differ in smoothness of
skin, number and size of protrusions, amount of seeds, and
extent of depressions in the skin.
-glucanase-like proteins, accom-
panied by higher chitinase activity (Merodio et al., 1998;
Go ni et al., 2009).
Atomized hot water vapor (at 46 -54 C for 60 min) was
also tested as a method of delaying ripening and extending
the shelf life of cherimoya cultivar Fino de Jate (Alique
et al., 2009). Temperatures higher than 48 C slowed phys-
iological processes and carbohydrates metabolism and
β
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