Postharvest quality of passion fruit cultivated in different elevations

Abstract

The postharvest quality of passion fruits cultivated in different elevations was studied by harvesting passion fruits from three different planting sites at commercially mature stage. These were located at elevations of 800, 1,000 and 1,200 meters above sea level (msl). The results indicated that passion fruits cultivated at 1,000 and 1,200 msl had a darker tone of reddish-purple color, higher peel anthocyanin content, greater fruit fresh weight, better taste, and higher antioxidant activity than those of fruits grown at 800 msl. Nonetheless, elevation had no influence on L* value and chroma of peel color, total carotenoids content, vitamin C content, and phenolic compounds of passion fruit concentrate. Furthermore, the results from the three investigated areas had also revealed a relatively high relation (r = 0.7724) between antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds from the crude extracts of passion fruit concentrate.