The 60 fruits were separated into groups of three, for treatment in triplicate. Following washing, the fruit were peeled manually, and sliced into volumes of 5 × 4 × 1 cm. They were dipped for 1 min into a solution of 0% (control), 0.5%, 1% or 2% chitosan (95–98% deacetylated and viscosity ⩽30 mPa s; VA&G Bioscience Inc., Taoyuan, Taiwan).