Postharvest quality and sensory attributes of ‘Pesca di Bivona’ peaches (Prunus persica L.) during storage

Abstract

“Pesca di Bivona” ‘Murtiddara’, ‘Bianca’, ‘Agostina’, and ‘Settembrina’ are non-melting white flesh peach landraces characterized by a persistent aroma and excellent flavour highly appreciated by Italian consumers. The aim of this work was to assess the persistence of their quality and sensory profiles after storage at 0 °C for 28 days, using destructive and non-destructive analyses. The IAD index, measured either at harvest or at fruit removal from cold storage, was correlated to TSS, TA and firmness of all the landraces. ‘Settembrina’ and ‘Agostina’ harvested at the right ripening time (50.5 ± 4.3 N) and stored at 0 °C during 4 weeks kept harvest quality in terms of sensorial attributes, flesh firmness, chlorophyll content, TSS, TA and reduced weight loss.