Influence of vacuum impregnation on respiration rate, mechanical and optical properties of cut persimmon

The vacuum impregnation process (VI) was studied as a possible method of producing minimally processed products from persimmons as a method of increasing their commercial uses. Cubes of persimmon of two cultivar (‘Picudo’ and ‘Rojo Brillante’) were immersed in a sucrose solution (≈24°Brix) for 5 min at 50 mbar plus 5 min at atmospheric pressure. The respiration rate (RR) and the optical and mechanical properties of fresh and impregnated samples were analysed and the changes occurring during storage were determined (7 days, 10 °C). A sensory analysis was also performed to evaluate the preferred variety and the acceptance of VI as a treatment for preparing minimally processed fruits (MPF). Although the persimmon has a low porosity, VI caused a mass increase in the samples of around 3%, which gave an improvement in the yield of the process to prepare MPF. VI improved the initial appearance of this fruit. The samples of cv. Rojo Brillante submitted to VI were chosen as the preferred samples. However during storage, VI did not avoid fruits acquiring a brownish colour and therefore some antibrowning products should be included in the osmotic solution.