Increasing pineapple fruit resistance to chilling injury during storage by temperature preconditioning.

摘要

The potential for extending storage life of fresh fruit by increasing the degree of fruit resistance to chilling injury was explored in pineapple cv. N36. Temperature preconditioning was applied by holding fruits for 24 h at 15 and/or 10 degrees C before storage at 5 degrees C. Fruits were removed weekly from the cold room and held further for up to 6 d at ambient temperature (25 degrees C). Observations were carried out on both conditions. Development of chilling injury was observed in fruits on removal and during the subsequent days at ambient temperature. Step-wise temperature reduction at 15 and 10 degrees C for 24 h at each temperature allowed the fruits to be stored at 5 degrees C for up to 6 weeks with less symptoms of chilling injury compared to the control. The study provides an opportunity to extend the storage life of pineapple further beyond the period achievable under the normal optimum temperature.