Pulsed light treatment as new method to maintain physical and nutritional quality of fresh-cut mangoes

This study investigated the impact of pulsed light treatment on physical and nutritional quality of fresh-cut "Kent" mangoes. Pulsed light treatments were carried out using an automatic flash lamp system (Mulieribus, Claranor) composed of eight lamps situated all around the sample with a total fluence of 8 J cm(-2). Firmness, colour, phenol, carotenoid, ascorbic acid contents and enzyme activities (Phenylalanineammonialyase, PAL and Polyphenoloxydase, PPO) were analysed. Pulsed light treatment maintained the firmness, the colour and the carotenoid content of fresh-cut mangoes. The treatment increased PPO activities after 3 days and maintained PAL activity. For the nutritional aspect, pulsed light maintained phenol and total ascorbic acid contents such as the control. Our results suggest that the application of pulsed light could be used with fresh-cut mangoes to improve physical quality and maintain nutritional properties. Industrial Relevance: Mango is one of the most important tropical fruit worldwide with an increasing demand for "ready to eat" products, because of convenience and fresh-like quality. However, fresh-cut mangoes suffer from browning and softening. Conventional thermal treatments decreased the browning but may contribute to the degradation of certain component. Nowadays, alternative nonthermal technologies are more and more studied such as Pulsed Light. In industry, Pulsed light is used to decontaminate surfaces, packaging or food (bread). No application is available on fruits and vegetables. This work estimated the feasibility of pulsed light treatment to improve the quality of fresh-cut mangoes. The results obtained are promising and could improve the use of pulsed light treatment to extend the shelf-life of fresh-cut products. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.