Postharvest evaluation of soilless-grown table grape during storage in modified atmosphere

BACKGROUND: Soilless growing systems, mainly developed for vegetables and ornamental crops, have been recently proposed as alternative to the soil culture also for table grapes in order to reach optimal productive performance. In this paper sensory, physical and chemical parameters were analyzed in table grape obtained from soil and soilless growing system, at harvest and during the storage in air or modified atmosphere. RESULTS: At harvest soilless berries resulted 30% firmer than fruits obtained in soil culture. Moreover, table grape obtained from soilless growing system showed an antioxidant activity and total phenol content 60% higher than bunches coming from soil. Storage under modified atmosphere resulted in better quality of table grapes with respect to those stored in air. Furthermore, soilless growing system resulted more suitable than soil system in preserving visual quality and controlling rachis browning and weight loss. CONCLUSION: Since soilless system allows berries cleaner and of higher quality than samples coming from soil, we can suggest the implementation of soilless grown system for the production of health promoting and convenience fruits.