Abstract: Fengxiang strawberries were treated with hot water rinsing and brushing (HWRB) treatment at 55, 60 ℃ and 65 ℃ for 20 s in the experiment. The purpose was to investigate the effect of this heat treatment on fruit decay and quality after ambient temperature storage(20 ℃, 3 d) or cold storage(0 ℃, 12 d). Results showed that HWRB treatment could significantly decrease the epiphytic microbial population on fruit surface after heat treatments, inhibit weight loss and respiration rate, and keep high content of VC; Fruits treated with 65 ℃, 20 s had the lowest decay incidence, but part of the fruits showed surface shriveling and bleaching and became unacceptable commercially. Fruits treated with 60℃ had less decay incidence than untreated ones, and cold storage could enhance the effect of HWRB treatments. At the same time, there were no negative effects of 60℃ 20s HWRB on fruit surface color, firmness, and the contents of soluble solids, titratable acidity, so it was a preferred treatment for postharvest strawberry storage.

Key words: HWRB, strawberry, decay, quality