Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5.2.
Respiration and ethylene production rate of selected tropical fruits at
20°C.
Respiration
Ethylene
Range
mg/kg/h
Range
μl/kg/h
Class
Commodity
Commodity
Very low
<35
Pineapple, carambola
Low
35-70
Banana (green), litchi,
papaya, jackfruit,
passion fruit,
mangosteen
0.1-1.0
Pineapple, carambola
Moderate
70-150
Mango, rambutan,
chiku, guava,
durian, lanzone
1.0-10.0
Banana, guava,
mango, plantain,
mangosteen, litchi,
breadfruit, sugar
apple, durian,
rambutan
High
150-300
Avocado, banana
(ripe), sugar apple,
atemoya
10-100
Avocado, papaya,
atemoya, chiku
Very high
>300
Soursop
>100
Cherimoya, passion
fruit, sapote,
soursop
Vital heat: kJ/tonne/h = mg CO
2
/kg/h × 11. BTU/tonne/h = mg CO
2
/kg/h × 10.4
Chilling injury
The ability to use temperature to extend the postharvest life of tropical fruits
is limited by chilling injury. For example, temperate fruits such as apples and
pears can be stored at 0°C for months, while the maximum storage life for
papaya is about 21 days at 10°C (Fig. 5.3). Papaya, when held at less than
10°C, has reduced storage life due to chilling injury (Chen and Paull, 1986).
The symptoms of chilling injury are similar for most commodities and include
pitting, skin darkening, failure to ripen completely and increased susceptibility
to decay. Carambola and the subtropical fruits longan and litchi are crops that
are somewhat resistant to chilling injury, requiring a considerable time (>14
days) at 1°C before injury occurs.
In any discussion of chilling injury, two aspects must be considered:
the storage temperature and the duration or exposure at that temperature.
Although there is not an exact, fruit-specifi c, reciprocal relationship between
temperature and time, it takes a longer time at a higher temperature to develop
injury than at a lower temperature. As storage temperature is lowered from
30°C, the duration of storage life increases and the limitation is fruit ripening
and senescence. Storage life reaches a maximum at 15°C for Brazilian
