Suitability of Dukat strawberries for studying effects on shelf life of irradiation combined with cold storage.

A new Dukat variety of strawberries was used to study the effect of irradiation combined with cold storage on their shelf life and chemical composition. Strawberries, with or without stems, were irradiated with a dose of 2.5 or 3.0 kGy within 6-10 or 20-24 h after harvesting. Results of the sensory evaluation showed that the minimum storage time for the fruits could be extended by a minimum of 9 days. If the time between harvest and irradiation was shorter, better results for storage experiments were obtained. Fruits with stems were more suitable for cold storage after irradiation than those without stems. Irradiation of strawberries did not change the titratable acidity and content of the reducing sugars. Colour intensity and ascorbic acid levels decreased in proportion to the absorbed dose and storage time.