UV-C treatments extend the postharvest quality of ‘0900 Ziraat’ sweet cherries by protecting the physical and biochemical features of the fruits during the storage

Sustainable practices to extend the postharvest quality of horticultural products lead to cost-effective marketing during the prolonged season. Sweet cherries are among the most commonly consumed and traded fruits worldwide although they necessarily deteriorate after harvest. In the present study, the effects of UV-C irradiation in different application durations along with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on quality maintenance of the ‘0900 Ziraat’ sweet cherries were investigated for two years (2018 and 2019). The fruits were divided into six application groups; (1) storage in plastic cups control, (2) using MAP (Xtend®) packages, (3) 5 min UV-C exposure, (4) 10 min UV-C, (5) 20 min UV-C, and (6) 30 min UV-C irradiation. Treatment of UV-C was performed at a 15 cm distance using a metal cabinet equipped with 8 UV-C lamps of 15 watts, 230V/50Hz at 254 nm wavelength. The sweet cherries were stored at 1 °C and 90% RH for 35 days. At the end of the storage, the greatest weight loss occurred in the control fruits, while the lowest loss was obtained from the fruits subjected to 10 min of UV-C for both years. Also, 10 min of UV-C provided the highest firmness value for both years. This treatment also has better effects on maintaining several quality features such as pedicel chlorophyll content, titratable acidity in fruit juice, and total phenolic contents compared to the control fruits. General findings indicated that 10 min UV-C irradiation would be a beneficial practice for extending the general quality features of ‘0900 Ziraat’ sweet cherry during cold storage up to 35 d.