## 3 Results and Discussion
### Ascorbic Acid Content, Firmness, and Mass Gain after VI Process
Apple cultivars with hard firmness resulted in a low mass gain (Gala Must, Ligol, and Red Jonaprince mass gain were from 15 to 17%), while lower firmness value responded to higher mass gain. In Figure 1 relationship between mass gain and initial firmness of apple tissue was plotted. It was found that the mass gain was negatively correlated with fresh apple firmness (r = \(-\)0.85). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Apple Cultivar**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Ascorbic Acid Content (mg/100 g)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Firmness (kG)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Mass Gain (\%)**} \\ \cline{2-2} \cline{4-6}  & **Before** & **After** & **Before** & **After** & \\ \hline Boskoop & 25.2 \(\pm\) 1.6 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 84 \(\pm\) 7 \({}^{\text{gh}}\) & 12.3 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 6.0 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 32 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{cd}}\) \\ Cortland & 5.0 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 124 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{1}}\) & 12.2 \(\pm\) 1.1 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 8.5 \(\pm\) 0.7 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 28 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{bcd}}\) \\ Gala & 5.0 \(\pm\) 0.3 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 85 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{gh}}\) & 12.1 \(\pm\) 1.4 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 8.5 \(\pm\) 0.9 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 23 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{abcd}}\) \\ Gala Must & 11 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 77.4 \(\pm\) 1.8 \({}^{\text{fg}}\) & 35 \(\pm\) 2 \({}^{\text{fgh}}\) & 30 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{cdefgh}}\) & 15 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Golden Delicious & 16.0 \(\pm\) 1.3 \({}^{\text{cd}}\) & 130 \(\pm\) 1 \({}^{\text{1}}\) & 11.3 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 6.3 \(\pm\) 0.5 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 34 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{d}}\) \\ Idared & 7.0 \(\pm\) 1.0 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 63 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 21.9 \(\pm\) 0.8 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) & 19 \(\pm\) 2 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) & 21 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) \\ Jonagold & 16.0 \(\pm\) 0.8 \({}^{\text{cd}}\) & 96 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{jk}}\) & 12.6 \(\pm\) 0.7 \({}^{\text{abd}}\) & 9.5 \(\pm\) 0.7 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 26 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{abcd}}\) \\ Jonagored & 10 \(\pm\) 2 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 89.2 \(\pm\) 1.3 \({}^{\text{hjk}}\) & 11.8 \(\pm\) 0.8 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 6.7 \(\pm\) 0.4 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 23 \(\pm\) 3\({}^{\text{abcd}}\) \\ Ligol & 4.7 \(\pm\) 0.3 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 79 \(\pm\) 9 \({}^{\text{fg}}\) & 32 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{gfh}}\) & 30.5 \(\pm\) 1.5 \({}^{\text{dgh}}\) & 17 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) \\ Lobo & 11.5 \(\pm\) 0.8 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 86 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{ghj}}\) & 15.0 \(\pm\) 0.8 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) & 11.3 \(\pm\) 0.4 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) & 25 \(\pm\) 2 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) \\ Pinova & 13.0 \(\pm\) 1.4 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 95 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{ijk}}\) & 17.5 \(\pm\) 1.3 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) & 14.4 \(\pm\) 1.3 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) & 24 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) \\ Red Jonaprince & 10.5 \(\pm\) 1.5 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) & 97.5 \(\pm\) 1.5 \({}^{\text{k}}\) & 43 \(\pm\) 3 \({}^{\text{gh}}\) & 35 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{fgh}}\) & 15 \(\pm\) 2 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Shampion & 6.0 \(\pm\) 1.0 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 128 \(\pm\) 2 \({}^{\text{1}}\) & 25.6 \(\pm\) 1.6 \({}^{\text{bcdeg}}\) & 25.9 \(\pm\) 1.3 \({}^{\text{bcdeg}}\) & 21 \(\pm\) 6 \({}^{\text{abc}}\) \\ Topaz & 15.0 \(\pm\) 0.8 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & 73.5 \(\pm\) 0.9 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 25.6 \(\pm\) 1.6 \({}^{\text{bcdeg}}\) & 13.8 \(\pm\) 0.9 \({}^{\text{abed}}\) & 20 \(\pm\) 4 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Values are mean \(\pm\) standard deviation; the different letters within a given parameter indicate a significant difference at \(p<0.05\) for the two-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test means comparisons.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Ascorbic acid content and firmness before and the after VI and mass gain of the apple cubes. Mass gain also depends on VI condition and tissue characteristics. This dependency is usually quite complex and not linear. As found by [PERSON] et al. [32], mass gain after VI of apple cubes is dependent on the vacuum level, the time of impregnation, and the characteristic of the impregnation solution.