533 Combining MAP, Deficit Irrigation and Antibrowning Treatment for Keeping Quality of Fresh-Cut Peaches N. Falagán 1,2,a , E. Aguayo 1,2 , P.A. Gómez 2 , F. Artés-Hernández 1,2 , W. Conejero 3 , M. Otón 2 and F. Artés 1,2 1 Postharvest and Refrigeration Group, Department of Food Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), ETSIA, Paseo Alfonso XIII, 48, 30203 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain 2 Food Quality and Health Unit, Institute of Plant Biotechnology (IBV-UPCT), Campus Muralla del Mar, Edificio I+D+I, 30202 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain 3 Department of Irrigation, CEBAS-CSIC, PO Box 164, E-30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain Keywords: Prunus persica, minimal processing, sensory quality, firmness, vitamin C Abstract Agriculture in semi-arid areas faces the scarcity of water resources. The effect of deficit irrigation (DI) on quality of ‘Flordastar’ peach slices stored in modified atmosphere packaging was studied. The DI was programmed according to signal intensity (SI) of the maximum daily trunk shrinkage (MDS); DI plants were irrigated to maintain MDS SI values close to 1.4 or 1.3 in the case of DI 1 or DI 2 plants, respectively (see details in material and methods). Results were compared to a non-DI (NDI) watered at 150% crop evapotranspiration. Once harvested, peaches were cut in 6-8 pieces and two groups were made: ‘Control’, packaged in polypropylene trays, and ‘Antibrowning’ in which pieces were treated with 9% ascorbic acid (AA) before packaging. In both cases, a passive modified atmosphere (16.5 kPa O 2 and 3.5 kPa CO 2 ) was generated throughout storage at 5°C. On days 0, 4 and 8, firmness, vitamin C, microbial counts and sensory quality were evaluated. As results, DI 1 and DI 2 peaches showed higher firmness on the initial day than NDI fruits but no differences between irrigation treatments during storage were found. Initially, samples treated with AB solution showed higher AA content than control. During shelf life, no differences in AA content were registered between both kinds of treatments, following a decreasing trend with time. In general, the dehydroascorbic acid content tended to increase during storage, without differences among treatments. AA treated peaches reached the best rating by the sensory panel. In all treatments, microbial counts (mesophilic, yeast, moulds, Salmonella spp., Listeria spp. and E. coli) were below the legal European limits. The main conclusions obtained were that the use of DI strategies saved an important water amount, providing similar quality fresh-cut fruits. The use of AA kept the appearance of the slices allowing a shelf life of 8 days. INTRODUCTION Agriculture in the Spanish Mediterranean regions is faced with strong competition for already scarce water supplies due to the rapid expansion of urban and industrial activity, environmental preservation pressure and rising water costs (García-Orellana et al., 2007). For these reasons, deficit irrigation (DI) strategies should be applied in agriculture. On the other hand, consumer’s demand of minimally processed or fresh-cut fruit and vegetables with high overall quality and safety has experienced a sharp increment in recent years. One of the most important tools for its right conservation is the use of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technique which is generated by the use of polymeric films commonly provided of a selective permeability to gas diffusion (Artés et al., 2007). Modified atmospheres help to keep quality and extend storage life by lowering metabolic activity, decay, browning (Gunes and Lee, 1997), and specially ethylene a natalia.falagan@upct.es Proc. XI th Int. Controlled and Modified Atmosphere Research Conf. Eds.: M.L. Amodio and G. Colelli Acta Hort. 1071, ISHS 2015