Pomegranate - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 518

development, leading in 50-67% of cases to less decay
than control fruit after 12 weeks at 8 ◦ C plus 1 week at
20 ◦ C (D'Aquino et al., 2010). Fenhaxamig R

storage (Hess-Pierce and Kader, 2003; Kupper et al., 1995;
Nerya et al., 2006).

was also very
effective in reducing natural incidence of Botrytis cinerea
(Holland et al., 2009).

Shipping
Pomegranate fruit should be packed with cushioning within
the shipping containers to reduce incidence and severity of
scuffing during shipping and transportation. Pomegranate
fruit within the shipping containers may be forced-air
cooled to 7 ◦ C and kept at this temperature with 90-95%
RH before shipment and transportation to the retail stores at
7 ◦ C and 90-95% RH (Kader, 2006). Pomegranates should
not be mixed with other fruits or vegetables during storage
or shipping since the sensory quality may be impaired by
aromatic or other volatiles emitted from those commodities.

Current storage and shipping practices
Pomegranate fruit can be easily stored for a period of 2-3
months at 5 ◦ C; longer storage should be at approximately
7 ◦ C to avoid chilling injury (Crisosto et al., 2010). Wa-
ter loss and decay are, however, accelerated by storage at
temperatures over 5 ◦ C; hence the use of chilling tempera-
ture is necessary to extend storability despite chilling injury
occurrences (Mirdehghan et al., 2007a). Some postharvest
treatment regimes mentioned above, along with the use of
chilling temperature, may be applied to the produce to delay
or decrease chilling injury symptoms such as CA storage.
In traditional storage, pomegranates are stored until the rind
completely dries and turns brown as long as the arils stay
fresh.

Innovative postharvest technologies
Few innovative postharvest technologies have been doc-
umented in the literature; the most promising ones are
polyamine application (Mirdehghan et al., 2007a) and
magnetic resonance imaging technology (Khoshroo et al.,
2009).

Cold storage
Although the optimum storage temperature varies by cul-
tivar, production area, and postharvest application (Hard-
enburg et al., 1990; SeaLand, 1991; Onur et al., 1995),
pomegranates are generally kept at 5 ◦ -8 ◦ C and 90% rel-
ative humidity (RH). The optimum storage conditions for
'Hicaznar,' the leading commercial cultivar in Turkey, are
6 ◦ C with 90% RH (Onur et al., 1992; Pekmezci et al.,
1998) and for 'Wonderful,' around 7 ◦ C and 90-95% RH
(Kader, 2006). RH of 90-98% is recommended for all
pomegranates since fruit peel desiccates easily at low RH,
causing a hard and darkened rind that reduces marketability
(Salunkhe and Desai, 1984).

Polyamine application
Prestorage application of polyamines (putrescine and sper-
midine) by pressure of 0.05 bar for 4 min, or immersion at
25 ◦ C for 4 min, might prolong the shelf life of pomegranate
stored at chilling temperatures (Mirdehghan et al., 2007a).
These researchers reported that the loss of firmness, color,
SSC, TA, and the increase in respiration rate were signif-
icantly delayed in 'Mollar de Elche' pomegranate by the
polyamine application during 60-day storage at 2 ◦ Cplus
3daysat20 ◦ C.

Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging may be used for visualizing
the internal structure of a pomegranate fruit with respect
to ripening stage and internal quality. A study conducted
on 'Malas-e Torsh,' an Iranian cultivar, to determine the
ripening stage and internal defects this technique resulted
in detection rate accuracy of over 95% (Khoshroo et al.,
2009).

Controlled atmosphere
Among the postharvest conditions for an extended storage,
the most successful one seems to be the CA storage at
or below 7 ◦ C. CA, compared with the cold storage, has
some superior advantages such as arresting/delaying the
spread of certain diseases and decreasing the incidence of
physiological disorders (Ben-Arie and Or, 1986; Kupper
et al., 1995; Artes et al., 1996; Holcroft et al., 1998, Nerya
et al., 2006). Optimal CA storage conditions for 'Hicaznar'
pomegranate are 3% O 2 +

Shelf life extension and quality
To extend storability and marketing of pomegranates, sig-
nificantly better results are obtained when waxing (Waskar
et al., 1999), film wrapping (Nanda et al., 2001; D'Aquino
et al., 2010), packaging under modified atmosphere (MAP)
(Porat et al., 2008), using thermal treatments (Artes et al.,
1998, 2000; Mirdehghan et al., 2007a, 2007b), or applying

6% CO 2 (Kupper et al., 1995),

and 2% O 2 6-15% CO 2 for 'Wonderful' (Hess-Pierce

and Kader, 2003; Nerya et al., 2006). The 'Hicaznar' and
'Wonderful' cultivars can be stored up to 6 months at 6 ◦ C
and up to 4-5 months at 6 ◦ -7 ◦ C, respectively, under CA

+