STORAGE DURATION AFFECTS QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF DURIAN (Durio zibethinus) AFTER METHYL BROMIDE FUMIGATION

Azimah, H., Ahmad, S.H. , Nurfatin, M.R. Crop Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

E-mail: azimahhamidon@gmail.com Keywords: phytosanitary requirement, peel, pulp, flavor Abstract An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of storage duration after methyl bromide treatment on the durian postharvest quality characteristics of durian. Since the plant quarantine regulations for certain country are quite strict, the market demand of tropical fruits for exported to overseas especially China is abundant and competitive. Thus, there are certain treatments that are required to apply on the produce before exported. Durians were treated with methyl bromide in this study, which has been widely used for plant quarantine purposes. After that, durians were brought to postharvest lab, Universiti Putra Malaysia for further analysis. Optimum temperature during cold storage for durian is 13 to 15C in 7 to 14 days of storage with 90 to 95% relative humidity. In this study, durians were stored at 13C. There were changes during storage in L*, C* and h value of peel, C* value of pulp colour and flavor hedonic evaluation. Peel colour and flavor of durian D24 changed during storage at 13 C, following methyl bromide fumigation. These changes affect both appearance and palatability of the fruit. Further studies need to be carried out to determine suitable storage temperature for durian after fumigation with methyl bromide.

INTRODUCTION Durian (Durio zhibethinus Murray) belongs to the family Bombaceae and is widely grown in tropical and sub-tropical zones. It is well-liked and recognized for its flavor, aroma and texture. The durian tree, native to Southeast Asia, is very tall and the durian fruit is roughly the size and shape of a spiky football. Inside the tough skin are five white segments enclosing two or three portions of soft cream-coloured flesh, each wrapped around a single large beige seed. Thailand has dominated the durian trade for more than three decades, with nearly 60 percent of global durian exports coming from Thailand (Nanthachai, 1994).The breakthrough for Malaysia's durian growers was after the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, visited Kuala Lumpur in April 2011, when he formally agreed to allow the entry of Malaysian durians into China.The Chinese tourist insisted that Malaysian durians are deliciously creamier and more aromatic than Thai-grown ones. The Malaysia's Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority reported that the country produces about 330,000 tons of durians a year, mainly for domestic consumption (2011).

Nevertheless, Malaysian officials have urged farmers to boost production, promising that demand from China would help prevent any potential excess in the domestic market. The projected export of frozen durians from Malaysia to China is between 350 to 500 tons a year for the year 2012 to 2015.As a phytosanitary requirement for export to China, the durian fruits will have to be fumigated with methyl bromide to kill fruit flies lava and eggs disinfestations. Optimum temperature during cold storage for durian is 13 to 15C in 7 to 14 days of storage with 90 to 95% relative humidity. However, the duration between harvest and until the durian reaches the market often takes a longer time and unsuitable storage temperature during transportation for export will cause rapid ripening and reduce fruit flavor. Peel colour change appears to be a reliable indicator of ripening and quality in various fruits. Therefore, objective of this study was to determine the effect of storage duration after methyl bromide treatment on quality characteristics of durian in peel and pulp colour (L*, C* and h) and flavor.

MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY Durian cultivar D24 was harvested and fumigated with methyl bromide following Malaysian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme (AFAS) standards. The dosage used was 32 g/m3 of methyl Bromide (MB) at a temperature of 23 C for 2 hours. Then, the durian were taken to the Postharvest Lab, Faculty of Agriculture, UPM and stored at 13 C for 10 days at 0, 2 and 4 days. Peel and pulp colour: Colour was determined by using a chromameter which provided L* (lightness), C* (chroma) and h (hue) values. h is the qualitative attribute of colour and it defines the difference of a colour with reference to grey, L represent the brightness measure at a range from 0 to 100 ( 100 = white, 0 = black ) and C* measured the vividness of colour. Flavor (hedonic score): Pulp flavor sensory evaluation of ripe durian was evaluated by a panel of 10 semi-trained panelists which comprised postgraduate students from the Crop Science department, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia. A continuous scoring method consisting of a 1-10 cm line, with 10 representing the most favorable response, was used, with 1 = hardly perceptible 10 = full durian flavor (Shashi and Khurdiya, 2004). Experimental Design The design of the experiment was a randomized complete block design, with three replications. Data were analyzed by using analysis of variance and regression analysis to describe the relationship between peel and pulp colour and flavour sensory evaluation during storage after methyl bromide fumigation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION L*, C* and h value of durian peel and pulp

There was a significant (P0.05) positive linear relationship between peel L* and storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. Figure 1 (a) showed that L* value increased by 12.9% between 0 and 4 storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. Both peel C* and h in Figure 1(b) and (c) showed there were significant (P0.05) negative linear relationships with storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. Both C* value and h showed a decrease of 51.8% and 39.46%, respectively, between 0 and 4 storage days. There was a significant (P0.05) negative linear relationship between pulp C* and storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. Figure 1 (e) showed that there was a decrease of 14.18 % when pulp C* value of durian were measured between 0 and 4 days after methyl bromide fumigation. However, there were no significant (P0.05) relationships between pulp L* and h and storage days (Figure 1 (d) and (f)). Colour is a function of the light striking the product, the differential reflection of certain wavelengths, and the visual perception of those wavelengths, which are perceived due to the presence of pigments within products (Kays, 1999). According to Arts et al. (2002), colour in fruits and vegetables are mainly due to three families of pigments, chlorophylls, carotenoids and anthocyanins, responsible for green, red-yellow and red to blue-purple colours, respectively. The appearance of the fruit greatly influences consumer acceptance (Goldschmidt et al., 1977; Singh and Reddy, 2005). Thus, many quality control protocols use colour as an attribute to measure the degree of quality of fruits, and foods in general, to asses the commercial value of the product. Peel colour changes due to preferential chlorophyll degradation appears to be a reliable indicator of ripening in various fruits (Wills et al., 2007). However, in some fruits accumulation of anthocyanin, betalains and carotenoids gives rise to the characteristics colours of ripe fruits. Black is always a ripe fruit whereas red fruit are not necessarily at optimum maturity for consumption (Steyn, 2009). As the durian ripens, peel colour changes from green to brownish-green. In this study, there were significant linear relationship between pulp C* and storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. However, L* and h values of durian pulp colour showed an increase during storage days, but there were no significant relationships between the variables studied. These results indicated that the pulp colour remained yellow, with only changes in its chromaticity during storage. This could be due to the different cultivar showing different colour changes in the pulp. This was supported by Aabesa et al. (2006) and Ketsa and Pangkool (1995), where the pulp colour of durian changes from light to dark yellow upon ripening depending on the cultivar due o the increase synthesis of B-carotene.

Sensory flavor

Figure 2 showed there was a significant (P0.05) positive linear relationship between sensory flavor and storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. This indicated that flavor was reduced linearly as the storage days increased. The flavor showed a decrease of 8.75% and 16.38% after 2 and 4 storage days, respectively, compared to at 0 storage day (control) after methyl bromide fumigation. This means that flavor rating decreased each day during the 4 days of storage. According to Mattheis and Fellman (1999), besides genetics, environmental, cultural practices, agrichemicals and nutrition will also influence the flavor. Sensory attributes generated to describe durian included sweet, sulphur, fruity, alcohol, nutty and green aroma, sticky, creamy, and smooth texture, together with sweet, bitter and overall after taste. Sensory descriptive analysis indicated that sulfur compounds were involved in the typical, basic durian flavour, although these compounds do not correlate directly with the intensity sulphur notes perceived. Several compounds, like ethyl propanoate, methyl butanoate, propyl-2-methyl propanoate, ethyl-3-methylbutanoate, were highly correlated with the sweet and fruity notes of different durian cultivars.Lost of durian flavor and texture started on the second day after fruit drop (Voon et al., 2007). Jordan et al., (2001) reported that sugar and acid have the opposite effect on flavor and that the tongue is more sensitive to acidity. Peel colour is closely related to the flavor of the fruit. CONCLUSION Peel colour and flavor of durian D24 changed during storage at 13 C, following methyl bromide fumigation. These changes affect both appearance and palatability of the fruit. Further studies need to be carried out to determine suitable storage temperature for durian after fumigation with methyl bromide

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Keats, S., & Pangkool, S. (1995).The effect of temperature and humidity on the ripening of durian fruits. Journal of Horticultural Science, 70, 827831. Nanthachai, S. 1994. (ed.) Durian - Fruit Development, Postharvest Physiology, Handling, Marketing in ASEAN, ASEAN Food Handling Bureau, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Singh, K.K. and B.S. Reddy. 2005. Postharvest physico-mechanical properties of orange peel and fruit. J. Food Eng. 23:345-351. Steyn, J. S. 2009. Physiology and function of fruit pigments: an ecological and horticultural perspective. Horticulturae. 6, 201-211. Voon, Y. Y., Sheikh Abdul Hamid, N., Rusul, G., Osman, A., Quek, S. Y. (2007). Characterisation of Malaysian durian (Durio zibethinus Murr.) cultivars: Relationship of physicochemical and flavour properties with sensory properties. Food Chemistry, 103, 12171227. Wills, R.B.H., W.B. McGlasson, D. Graham, and D.C. Joyce. 2007. Post-harvest. An introduction to the physiology and handling of fruits, vegetables and ornamentals. Australia: N.S.W. University Press Ltd.

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Figures
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Figure 1. Relationships between a) peel L*, y = 27.82 + 1.03 x, R2= 0.63, b) peel C*, y = 12.27 - 1.59x, R2= 0.76, c) peel h, y = 87.38 - 8.62x, R2= 0.85, d) pulp L*, e) pulp C*, y = 34.14 - 1.21x, R2= 0.22, f) pulp h and storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. Solid line indicates a significant linear response.

Figure 2. Relationship between sensory flavor, y = 8.06 - 0.33x (R2= 0.62) and storage days after methyl bromide fumigation. Solid line indicates a significant linear response.