Novel postharvest management using laser irradiation to maintain the quality of strawberry
Abstract: Strawberry fruits are perishable fruits and deteriorate vastly after harvest. This study aimed to maintain the quality attributes of strawberry fruit during seven days of cold storage using diode laser irradiation. Strawberries (Fragaria×ananassa, cv. Festival) were irradiated with diode laser at a wavelength of 450 nm and light intensity of 1.3 mWcm?2 for 3, 6, and 12 min, while the non-irradiated fruits served as the control sample, then the fruit was packed and stored for 7 days at 10 °C and 85–90% relative humidity. The findings showed a significant reduction in weight loss and decay percentages of treated strawberries with 3 and 6 min of laser light, while control and 12 min laser irradiated samples exhibited the highest significant increase in weight loss and fungal decay. All laser treatments retained firmness of the flesh until the fifth day of storage, meanwhile, the control sample became softer and fully mature, and at the end of the storage period, the control sample lost 77.9% of the firmness compared to 9.94% of 3 min treated fruit. Laser light had a marginal effect on pH, titratable acidity, and the content of anthocyanin. The results revealed that low exposure duration of laser treatment decreased darkness, and Chroma and total soluble solids (TSS) were maintained. Vitamin C showed a slight increase for all treatments and by the end of the storage period, the 3 min treated sample had the highest significant value of 73.04 mg/100 g compared to the lowest significant value of 65.86 mg/100 g of control. It was noticed that laser irradiation significantly reduced the reduction percentage of antioxidant activity compared to the control sample even with the highest exposure time of laser irradiation.
Publication year 2020
Organization Name
serial title Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization
Author(s) from ARC
External authors (outside ARC)
    حلمى السيد حسن المعهد القومي لعلوم الليزر
    احمد الراعى امام سليمان كلية الزراعة - جامعة القاهرة
    شريف سعيد صالح
Publication Type Journal
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