• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1523-1528
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• 1999

The consumer's demands for minimally processed fruits and vegetables have been increased rapidly because of its convenient handling, fresh-like quality as well as producing less wastes from the environmental point of view. Asian pears which are one of the main fruits widely produced and consumed in Korea easily lost their characteristics due to browning and softening after cutting. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of various treatments on delaying deterioration of sliced Asian pears. 'Shingo' pear slices were treated with various solutions $(1%\;NaCl,\;0.2%\;L-cysteine,\;1%\;CaCl_2\;or\;1%\;calcium\;lactate)$ and were packaged with low density polyethylene $(LDPE,\;60\;{\mu}m)$, ceramic $(CE,\;60\;{\mu}m)$ or vacuum $(Ny/PE,\;80\;{\mu}m)$ film at $20^{\circ}C\;and\;0^{\circ}C$. In order to evaluate the quality of packaged sliced pears, quality index was determined in terms of color, firmness, soluble solids, titratable acidity. ascorbic acid, changes of gas composition, microbial test, and sensory quality. The results showed that sliced 'Shingo' pears packaged with CE and vacuum film maintained better quality than with LDPE at $0^{\circ}C\;and\;20^{\circ}C$. To retard browning and softening. 0.2% L-cysteine and 1% NaCl solutions applied for 1 minute were effective to reduce surface browning of sliced pears, and 1% $CaCl_2$ was the most effective to prevent softening.