Application of Calcium Salts and Organic Acid Dip Treatments to Improve Quality of Fresh-Cut Potatoes

Abstract

Fresh-cut potatoes are a highly perishable food product due to enzymatic browning, moisture loss, tissue softening and rapid metabolic activity caused by wounding during cutting. The present research was designed to assess the effect of four different dipping treatments: 2% calcium lactate combined with 2% ascorbic acid (T₁), 2% calcium lactate combined with 2% citric acid (T₂), 2% calcium chloride combined with 2% ascorbic acid (T₃), and 2% calcium chloride combined with 2% citric acid (T₄), along with an untreated control (T₀), on the physicochemical quality of fresh-cut potatoes during refrigerated storage of 21 days. Slices were dipped in the dipping solutions for 3 minutes followed by packaging in sealed polyethylene bags and storage at 5 ± 1 °C. Samples were analyzed for titratable acidity (TA), pH, total soluble solids (TSS), firmness, weight loss % and color after every 7 days of storage. T₁ gave the best overall balance of firmness, acidity retention and surface color, being the only treatment that significantly increased firmness over the control, whereas T₄ was more effective in limiting changes in pH and TSS. However, weight loss was higher in all treated samples than in control. These findings suggest that application of calcium lactate combined with ascorbic acid can prove to be a promising approach for maintaining the quality of fresh-cut potatoes in refrigerated storage