THE DURATION EFFECT OF PRECOOLING ON DEGREENING PROCESS AND QUALITY OF CALIFORNIA LEMON (CITRUS LIMON)

• Main Author: Legia Purwa Rahayu, Marchita
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknologi
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/57934
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The color of the fruit peel on the lemon is an important parameter for commodity quality and a determinant of consumer attractiveness. Precooling treatment can help break down chlorophyll for the formation of yellow color in lemons. The purpose of this study was to determine the precooling time to obtain a faster yellow color formation process with good quality. The design used was a Randomized Block Design (RAK) with treatment without precooling, 5 minutes precooling, 10 minutes precooling, and 15 minutes precooling. Precooling is done by hydrocooling method. The results showed that precooling before degreening had an effect on increasing Citrus Color Index, decreasing Hue, and chlorophyll degradation. Precooling time affects weight loss but does not affect the firmness of the lemon fruit texture. Chemical variables such as total juice, total titrated acid, and TPT/TAT ratio were not affected by etefon application and precooling before degreening, but these applications did affect total dissolved solids. During the degreening process, the sensory assessment score of color quality increased, while the quality of uniformity, freshness, and texture decreased, but all of them were still above the consumer acceptance limit. The best treatment for precooling application before degreening is 15 minutes of precooling.