Evaluation of the Effects of Disinfection Method and Packaging Type on Quality Attributes of Rutab Fruit (Phoenix dactylifera cv. Barhee)

Barhee is one of the most important date cultivar worldwide that its production in Iran is done mainly in Khuzestan province. This cultivar has many consumers at its three last developmental stages especially Rutab stage. In Rutab stage، the fruit texture is very soft and due to high water and sugar content is a good target for microorganisms and so it has a short storage life. Using new disinfection and proper packaging methods to reduce these undesirable factors can result in expanding the market of this valuable product. In this research، date fruit cv. Barhee was harvested at Rutab stage and after disinfection with two methods (i. e. heat pasteurization and UV-C irradiation) was packed with polypropylene films in two types of completely sealed and perforated. Fruit was stored at 5°C for three months and then analyzed for quality attributes including weight loss، fruit water content، TSS، titratable acidity، antioxidant capacity، phenolic content، mold content and surface color. The experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized design with three replications. The results showed that both method of disinfection resulted in considerable control of fruit microbial count and the fruit which was treated with UV-C light had lowest level of weight loss، titratable acidity and TSS. Also، the fruit that packed in sealed type represented negligible weight loss and color changes as well as microbial contamination due to lack of exposure to ambient air.