Abstract

Strawberry (Fragaria Ananassa sp.) is non-climacteric, aggregate fruit that has rich source of anthocyanin and vitamin C. However strawberry has short storage life and very susceptible to decay and physiological deterioration process. Therefore, emitting the post-harvest LED light to strawberry during cold storage has been studied. The aims of this work were to evaluate the effect of different LED light treatment to retain post-harvest quality and microbial quality of the strawberry. The post-harvest parameters that have been used are weight loss, colour, firmness, total soluble solid, titratable acidity and pH. The microbial parameter such as E.Coli count, Salmonella count, total plate count and mold count also being assessed. Strawberries were irradiated under three different types of LED light (white, blue and red) LED light. Blue and red LED light have different wavelength which are 470 nm and 660 nm respectively. The strawberry fruits were stored in 5ÂșC in cold room and this parameter were assessed in 10 days. There were statistically significant different (p<0.05) between treatment of weight loss, firmness, pH, and total soluble solid. The best treatment for this experiment is blue light exposure as it showed the lowest weight loss, retain the colour and delay firmness loss of the strawberry. This study also proved that blue LED can reduce the growth of E.coli, Salmonella and mold. In conclusion, LED light produce minimal heat which improves food safety and preserve postharvest quality of strawberry.