Storage quality of bell peppers pretreated with hot water and polyethylenepackaging

Treatments of bell peppers (Capsicum annuum, L.) with hot water at 45C for 15 min or 53C for 4 min prior to storage at 8C markedly reduced the inciden ce of fungal infections. However, the hot water treatment induced shrivelin g during storage. When hot water treated pepper fruits were subsequently pl aced in low density polyethylene bags, storage quality of these peppers imp roved tremendously including retention of firmness, reduction of wafer loss , retardation of color change, and alleviation of chilling injury. Total so luble solids, titratable acidity, and pH values in the pepper fruit were ge nerally not affected by these treatment. A 4 min dip at 53C followed by pac kaging with 0.065 mm low density polyethylene film was very effective in ma intaining pepper quality. This treatment inhibited respiration rate, reduce d decay, retained turgidity and green color, and maintained excellent overa ll quality after 28 days of storage at 8C. Hot water treatment combined wit h polyethylene film packaging is a promising technique for improving the st orage quality of bell peppers.