Determination Of Baseline Qualities Of Malaysian Export-Grade Starfruits

A study was conducted to determine the baseline qualities of Malaysian export-grade strafruits. The study is focused on the B10 cultivar of starfruits for the range of colour indexes between 2 and 4, targeted for the export market. A total of 123 commercially-graded, B10 cultivar starfruits were selected randomly and their properties namely length, diameter, mass, volume, the five colours values (L, a*, b*, C, ho), firmness, TSS (Total Soluble Solids), TA (Titratable Acidity) and pH were measured directly. From these properties, further properties were derived by calculation to make up a total of 31 properties investigated. Outlier analysis was conducted and four outliers identified by samples number 94, 95, 97, and 109 were eliminated. Therefore, the remaining samples for further analyses became 119. Studies on these 119 samples show that the properties length, diameter, mass and hue have low coefficient of variation (CV) levels. The fact that the starfruits were the actual marketable products indicates that mass and hue are sufficient element for quality indicators. Mass and hue were 15th and 3rd respectively in ranking by CV. Correlation studies revealed that mass has a very strong correlation with volume while hue has strong correlation with firmness. The property, pH, could be predicted moderately by b*. Since the study was conducted on export-grade starfruits, the minimum values can be taken as baseline values for acceptance of export-grade starfruits

UPM jalani program pemindahan ilmu sistem hidroponik di Indonesia

MALANG, 17 Mei - Jabatan Kejuruteraan Biologi dan Pertanian, Fakulti Kejuruteraan, Fakulti Kejuruteraan, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) menjalankan program pemindahan ilmu sistem hidroponik berkolabrasi dengan pelajar-pelajar daripada Departemen Teknik Biosistem, Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian, Universitas Brawijaya (UB), Malang, Indonesia

Effect of water content on backscattering parameters

Water content is one of the parameters that used to determine fruit quality. In this study, the effect of water content on the changes of backscattering parameters was investigated. The experiment was conducted on 240 bananas which vary from ripening stages 2 to 4. About half of the samples were stored at 6°C to induce chilling injury symptoms while the other were stored at 13°C and used as a control samples. The water content values were measured destructively on each sample based on the wet basis method. The results were compared with backscattering data that acquired using backscattering imaging. Results indicated there were significant differences (P<0.05) on the water content values and backscattering parameters as ripening stages increased. Results also revealed there were significant differences on the collected data as chilling injury developed. Hence, backscattering imaging is potentially useful for determining water content values and textural properties of fresh produce

Variability and predictability of Malaysian export-grade starfruit properties

The properties of commercially-graded B10 cultivar starfruit (Averrhoa carambola) namely length, diameter, mass, volume, the five colours values (L, a*, b*, C, h°), firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and pH were measured. Coefficients of variation (CV), correlation and property tolerances were evaluated to develop a relationship between the non-destructively measurable external properties and the non-destructively immeasurable internal properties. The length, diameter, mass and hue were found to have low CV levels. Mass appears to have a very strong correlation with volume while hue has a strong correlation with firmness

Evaluation of physicochemical properties of Musa acuminate cv. Berangan at different ripening stages

The physicochemical properties of Musa Acuminata cv. Berangan at different ripening stages (1, 2 and 3) were evaluated in the study. A visual attribute such as colour usually leads to misclassification as it can be subjected to different individual interpretation. Therefore, various measurements were conducted to determine the relationship between ripening stages and physicochemical properties of the fruit such as colour, pH, total soluble solids content (TSS) and firmness. Results showed that there were significant changes in physicochemical properties as ripening stages increased. Results also indicated that the correlations between ripening stages and firmness and pH values were statistically significant compared to other parameters. These relationships can be used to predict the related quality attributes of Berangan bananas

Effects of corn stem as a soil conditioner toward a green approach on waste management

This study examined the period of time that is needed for corn stem to degrade into soil in order to provide a suitable pH condition for the next planting. Experiments were conducted in an open area to enable the treatment to blend with the natural environment similar to the actual practice. The corn residue which comprised corn stems and leaves were ground and mixed with soil in different concentrations (0, 20, 60, 80 and 100 g kg‑1). The moisture content and pH readings were measured for 60 days at 10 day intervals. Results showed that 20 g kg‑1 was the most suitable concentration for a soil conditioner as it can constantly increase its pH value of R2=0.9457 and F value of 234.36 and maintain soil moisture content, R2=0.4217 and F value of 164.82

The effect of ultraviolet treatment on enzymatic activity and total phenolic content of minimally processed potato slices

In this work, potato slices were exposed to different doses of UV-C irradiation (i.e. 2.28, 6.84, 11.41, and 13.68 kJ m-2) with or without pretreatment [i.e. ascorbic acid and calcium chloride (AACCl) dip] and stored at 4 ± 1 °C. Changes in enzymatic activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), as well as total phenolic content (TPC) were investigated after 0, 3, 7 and 10 days of storage. Results showed that untreated and UV-C treated potato slices at 13.68 kJ m-2 dosage level showed significantly higher PPO, POD and PAL activities. Conversely, untreated potato slices showed the lowest TPC during storage period. Potato slices subjected to AACCl dip plus UV-C at 6.84 kJ m-2 produced lower PPO, POD and PAL activities, as well as maintained a high TPC during storage

Determination of the difference on color changes of watermelons by laser light backscattering imaging

The potential of laser light backscattering imaging was investigated for monitoring color parameters of seeded and seedless watermelons during storage. Two watermelon cultivars were harvested and stored for 3 weeks with seven measuring storage days (0, 4, 8, 12, 15, 18, and 21). The color parameters of watermelons were monitored using the conventional colorimetric methods (L*, a*, b*, C*, H*, and ∆E*) and laser light backscattering imaging system. A laser diode emitting at 658 nm and 30 mW power was used as a light source to obtain the backscattering image. The backscattering images were evaluated by the extraction of backscattering parameters based on the mean pixel values. The results showed that a good color prediction was achieved by the seedless watermelon with the R2 are all above 0.900. Thus, the application of the laser light backscattering imaging can be used for evaluating the color parameters of watermelons during the storage period

Prediction of total soluble solids and pH in banana using near infrared spectroscopy

The potential application of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in the range of wavelength from 1000 to 2500 nm to non-destructively determine total soluble solids (Brix) and pH values of bananas were evaluated. Thirty banana samples were measured at five different maturity stages. Each banana sample was scanned at three different locations (top, middle and bottom). The Brix and pH values were associated with the absorbance spectral data for the model development which were split into prediction and calibration sets. The partial least squares (PLS) model was built based on both data sets of banana samples. The prediction model for the Brix values obtained a coefficient of determination of 0.81 and root means square error of predictions of 3.91 Brix. The prediction model for pH values had an R2 of 0.69 and RMSEP of 0.36 pH. These findings proposed that near infrared spectroscopy has great potential to predict sugar content in bananas

Optical parameters in food and agricultural processing

The non-destructive feature of optical techniques has gained interests for quality assessment of various agricultural produce as well as in food processing technology. The principle and interaction of light with food and agricultural produce provide essential information for quality assessment which promotes non-destructive inspection methods. This review encompasses the determination of optical properties associated with the evaluation of the quality of agricultural produce. The understanding of how light interacts with turbid agricultural produce is also presented, including light characteristics such as absorption and scattering. A brief overview of the estimation and application of the optical parameters in food and agricultural processing are discussed. The problems and implementation of optical parameters as well as its future trend are also included