Postharvest Physiology and Storage - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 30

losses, and it can even help to recover water loss occurring
from the field to the packinghouse. Hydrocooling systems
require both product and package tolerance to water con-
tact (Thompson et al., 1998). Efficient operation of these
cooling systems require good-quality water, uniform tem-
perature (mechanical refrigeration), reduced heat and water
losses, as well as treatments and controls to keep the fruit
free from decay-causing micro-organisms.
Temperature fluctuations have a negative effect on the
fruit quality and promote microbial growth. Regardless of
the cooling method, once the fruit reaches its recommended
storage temperature, it should be kept at that temperature
until it reaches their final market. Hence, refrigerated rooms
and trucks are needed to keep the temperature low during
storage, transportation, and distribution of the fruit to the
processing plant or retail markets.

makes them suitable for large production areas and prod-
uct tolerance to long-term storage, while MAP systems are
relatively cheap, which require polymeric packages, gas
mixtures, and cold room facilities.

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Modified atmosphere and controlled atmosphere
storage
Modified atmospheres (MA) refers to atmosphere compo-
sition different than that of regular air (21% O 2 , about
0.03% CO 2 , and about 79% N 2 ), while controlled atmo-
sphere (CA) also refers to the different atmosphere than
air, which is constantly controlled and adjusted along time.
They are used for fruit storage, transportation, and for pack-
aging several fruits and vegetables, as a supplement to cold
storage, to further reduce ripening and other biological pro-
cesses rates, reduce insects and microbial growth, and con-
trol some physiological disorders.
Each fruit has an optimal atmosphere composition
(Table 2.5) for a better preservation of the fruit quality
along time, which depends on the fruit maturity stage, cul-
tivar, and other preharvest factors. However, the commer-
cial use of MA or CA depends on the expected benefits,
which should be large enough to compensate for the time,
equipment, materials, and other associated costs of this
technology.
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is a technique by
which the atmosphere surrounding the product is modified
using polymeric films with selective permeability to oxy-
gen and carbon dioxide and/or by injecting a known gas
composition inside the package. In avocados, the use of
low O 2 (2-5%) and high CO 2 (3-10%) reduces respiration
and ethylene production rates and delays texture and color
changes and chilling injury susceptibility, as it has also
been found for guava and some tropical fruits (Singh et al.,
2009). The use of MAP is much more suitable for tropical
fruits than CA systems since the latter require special facil-
ities, equipment to control and adjust the atmosphere com-
position during storage, and high operation costs, which