Morphological properties of heat treated date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in postharvest

Abstract

The effect of heat treatment on the quality of date’s fruits (Phoenix dactylifera L.) was studied for five months of storage at room temperature 22 ±1°C with 75 to 80% RH, and 10 ±1°C with 85 to 90% RH. The results indicated that during storage, the morphological characteristics changed significantly. The major change was observed for the sample of heat treated dates stored at 10 ±1°C has the highest weight compared to the other samples of the dates studied. The R-Index quality showed a rate of 8.56% and which increased in heat treated dates to reach 8.87%. The width of date samples stored at 10°C is large compared to heat treated and non-heat treated samples stored at room temperature. Harvesting at the Tamar stage followed by heat treatment of the fruits has proven to be a promising method to maintain the storage quality of date palm fruits.