Exploitation and valorisation of the Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) citron “Santa Maria del Cedro” in the fresh-cut market

The citron (Citrus medica L.) is a millenarian citrus fruit used in a variety of both culinary (like sweets, savoury dishes, liqueurs, syrups, and herb teas) and cosmetic products. However, many preparations need fresh citrons showing a short shelf-life after harvest, mainly due to the fruit senescence and microbial decay. Recently the citron of “Santa Maria del Cedro” in Calabria south Italy region entered in the EU register of Protected Designations of Origin (PDO). In this work changes in postharvest quality of the citron fruit whole (stored at 20, 10 and 5°C until 14 d), and processed as fresh-cut product (stored in controlled atmosphere (CA): 10 kPa O2, plus 20 kPa CO2, at 5°C until 11 d) were analysed. During storage, measures of visual quality (VQ), colour, respiration rate (RR), weight loss (WL), and microbiology analyses, were conducted. Whole citrons stored at low temperatures, reduced yellowness and weight loss as well as the respiration rate that was of about 5-folder down respect samples stored at 20°C. The fresh-cut samples in CA maintained the marketability until 11 d, shown a WL and RR 3-fold less respect samples in air at the same storage date. As expected, total bacterial and yeast and moulds counts were significantly reduced in CA samples than control samples; in addition, Escherichia coli and Salmonella counts were not detected regardless the treatment. The presented study suggests the proper temperature conditions to preserve the shelf life of whole citrons fruit and, for the first time, measure to performance as fresh-cut product to improve its consumption into the market.