Abstract:

universally planted in northeast China was selected as materials in this study. Harvested
melons were treated by soaking in 2% EFF and 0.5 mL/kg ethanol fumigation, respectively, and those without any treatment
were used as controls in this experiment. The materials were stored in incubators at 15 ℃ and a relative humidity (RH) of
85% for 16 days, during which quality attributes and related physiological indexes were measured. The results revealed
that both treatments had significant inhibition on released quantity of internal ethylene in melons during storage. EFF
soaking treatment had more obvious effect on postponing the peak time of internal ethylene release than ethanol fumigation
treatment. Both treatments delayed the descending rate of fruit firmness and the lossing rate of water content and soluble
solid content during storage. They also reduced fruit rotting rate and maintained fruit sensory quality. Before the 7th day,
ethanol fumigation had better effect while EFF soaking provided relatively longer freshness lifetime. After the 7th day, both
treatments had obviously inhibited the increase in soluble pectin content and the decrease in protopectin content (P ＜ 0.05).
EFF treatment significantly slowed down the decrease in cellulose content than EFF treatment than that in ethanol treatment
and control. Both treatments significantly inhibited the activities of polygalacturonase and cellulase (P ＜ 0.05), but had no
obvious effects on the activity of β-glucosidase. In conclusion, both treatments can reduce softening rate and maintain fruit
quality of postharvest oriental sweet melons. This study shows that both treatments are significantly effective in maintaining
the freshness of sweet melons and EFF soaking is better than ethanol fumigation.

Key words: oriental sweet melon, enhanced freshness formulation, ethanol, storage quality