Attribute-Specific Quality Responses of ‘Gangchan-kul’ Korean Melon to Sequential Postharvest Treatments During Storage at 20 °C

We examined whether adding a second immersion after hot water was accompanied by consistent quality responses during storage of “Gangchan-kul” Korean melon. Five sequences were compared in one commercial harvest lot: untreated Control; hot water (HW; 45 °C, 5 min); HW followed by peracetic acid (PAA; 80 mg L−1, 1 min); or HW followed by pileus-type or antler-type Ganoderma extract (PGE or AGE; 250 mg L−1, 2 min). Fruits were stored unwrapped at 20 °C for 15 d. Date-specific profiles were compared with time-weighted means; browning index (BI) and firmness remained descriptive because biological variance was unavailable. HW+PAA had the lowest day 15 BI without sustained separation during storage. HW+PGE had the lowest time-weighted weight loss (3.12%) and firmness (14.52 N), but its weight-loss mean exceeded HW on day 15. HW+AGE exceeded HW in soluble solids content by 0.90 °Brix (unadjusted 95% CI, 0.32–1.49; Holm p = 0.013 within the endpoint and 0.052 across 16 contrasts). No weight-loss or gas-exchange contrast met the primary Holm criterion. Period-average and final-day results therefore gave different assessments, without establishing a consistently superior sequence. These exploratory findings describe complete handling sequences within the tested lot.