Effects of Short-term Vacuum Treatment on Cell Wall Degradation and Softening of Postharvest Pitaya Fruit

ZHANG Jiayi; HE Piao; PENG Yican; CHANG Mengxue; ZOU Shan; ZHANG Min

doi:10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.19.009

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Packaging Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (19) : 85-93. DOI: 10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.19.009

Agro-products Preservation and Food Packaging

Effects of Short-term Vacuum Treatment on Cell Wall Degradation and Softening of Postharvest Pitaya Fruit

ZHANG Jiayi^1,2, HE Piao^1,2, PENG Yican^1,2, CHANG Mengxue^1,2, ZOU Shan^1,2, ZHANG Min^1,2,*

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Abstract

The work aims to investigate the effects of different vacuum treatment durations on the regulation of pitaya softening under a temperature condition of 30 °C designed to represent the temperature encountered during express delivery. Pitaya fruits were divided into an unpackaged group, an atmospheric-pressure packaging group, and three short-term vacuum treatment groups subject to vacuum treatment for 1, 4, and 7 h, respectively. The fruits were first vacuum-packaged in polyethylene terephthalate/polyethylene (PET/PE) bags, followed by perforation of the bags, and then stored at 30 °C for 5 d. Respiration rate, firmness, cell wall components, and the activities of cell wall-degrading enzymes were determined. Vacuum treatment for 4 h showed the best effect in delaying pitaya softening. After 5 d of storage, the firmness of the 4 h vacuum-treated fruit reached 5.47 N, which was significantly higher than those of the atmospheric-pressure packaging and unpackaged groups (P < 0.05), whose firmness values were 4.68 and 3.81 N, respectively. Meanwhile, the cellulose and protopectin contents in the 4 h vacuum-treated group were 0.68 mg/g and 0.29%, respectively, which were 1.51 times and 2.42 times those of the unpackaged group, respectively. The activities of cellulase (Cx), β-glucosidase (β-Glu), polygalacturonase (PG), and pectin methylesterase (PME) were all significantly inhibited, while respiration rate was the lowest and sensory quality was best maintained. The 1 h vacuum treatment also inhibited cell wall-degrading enzyme activities, realizing a firmness of 5.17 N, but its overall softening-inhibitory effect was weaker than that under the 4 h treatment. When the vacuum treatment was extended to 7 h, respiratory metabolism was instead enhanced, and firmness decreased to 4.19 N, which was significantly lower than those of the 1 h and 4 h vacuum-treated groups (P < 0.05) and even lower than that of the atmospheric-pressure packaging group. In contrast, the 4 h vacuum treatment effectively alleviates the softening of pitaya under storage at 30 °C, providing a theoretical reference for the preservation and quality regulation of pitaya during high-temperature logistics in summer.

Key words

vacuum treatment / pitaya / softening / e-commerce express logistics / cell wall degradation

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ZHANG Jiayi, HE Piao, PENG Yican, CHANG Mengxue, ZOU Shan, ZHANG Min. Effects of Short-term Vacuum Treatment on Cell Wall Degradation and Softening of Postharvest Pitaya Fruit[J]. Packaging Engineering. 2026, 47(19): 85-93 https://doi.org/10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.19.009

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