Maintaining Visual Quality and Fresh, Firm Texture during Countertop Ripening of Peaches, Guava, and Passionfruit With Vented Containers

Peaches, guavas, and passionfruits ripen best at room temperature (68 to 73.4 °F/20 to 23 °C) and high relative humidity (RH) (> 85%), however, the RH of an air-conditioned home is typically < 50% which accelerates desiccation. This project explored ripening these fruits under a passive system to generate high RH to investigate potential quality benefits. The high RH environment was generated by trapping water vapor from the ripening fruit inside a lidded, 5-L plastic container, vented with 225 holes of 3.4 mm² evenly distributed across the lid in a 15 × 15 grid. Fruit were stored in these lidded containers or on open trays from 3 to 8 days at 69.8 °F (21 °C) and 50% RH, simulating an air-conditioned kitchen environment. Once the fruit stored in open air were ripe and ready to eat, fruit from both treatments were evaluated. RH in the vented containers for guava and passionfruit was maintained at 92 to 94% and that in containers storing peach was 96 to 99%. Storage of peaches, passionfruits, and guavas in the vented containers prevented visually-evident shriveling and delayed ripening-associated softening compared to those that were stored under low RH conditions in ambient air. Peaches stored in high RH were firmer (20 N), than those in low RH (8–10 N), as were guavas (30–35 N and < 20 N), respectively. Weight loss for all fruit stored in high RH was much less (2 to 4%), compared with fruit stored in open air (13 to 25%), depending on the crop. Other benefits of ripening in the vented containers were that guava fruit maintained peel sheen, whereas that of fruit ripened under low RH became matte and dull; the peel of container-ripened peaches remained taut and fresh while that of peaches ripened on the simulated countertop became shriveled and visually undesirable. Therefore, storage in a passive system capable of maintaining a high RH, non-condensing environment can prevent shrivel and maintain visual and tactile quality of peaches, guavas, and passionfruits under typical air-conditioned conditions.