barrier of the foodtainer. This was also found in PE film-wrapped lettuce (Rosenberg & Sundell, 1992).
In contrast to the pigments and in respect to choles- terol reducing and anticancerogenic effects Semperfresh coating at 5 °C storage temperature maintained the soluble and total pectin content in comparison to the control during 21 days and during 10 days of shelf life, respectively (Fig. 2). Retention of firmness being caused by unchanged cell wall carbohydrates was also reported for coated pears (Amarante, Banks, & Ganesh, 2001). The foodtainer had no beneficial effect on the content of soluble and total pectin. Storing pepino dulce fruits at 5 °C both postharvest treatments maintained the soluble and total pectin content indicating the primary temperature effect on preserving pectins. This is in accor- dance with studies on pectolytic enzyme activities in tomatoes (Tijskens & van Dijk, 2000).