Storage temperature effects on moisture loss and the development of chilling injury in Lanes Late navel orange
R. E. Henriod A C , M. R. Gibberd A B and M. T. Treeby AA CSIRO Plant Industry, PMB, Merbein, Vic. 3505, Australia.
B Present address: Centre for Wine Excellence, Muresk Institute, Curtin University of Technology, Margaret River Education Campus, PMB1, Margaret River, WA 6285, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: robert.henriod@csiro.au
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45(4) 453-458 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA03260
Submitted: 24 November 2003 Accepted: 30 August 2004 Published: 23 May 2005
Abstract
The navel orange cultivar Lanes Late is an important export commodity for the Australian citrus industry with key markets in Asia and the United States of America. Low temperatures during storage and transport are used to extend postharvest life and for the purpose of insect disinfestation, making fruit more prone to chilling injury. The effects of low temperature and storage duration on the development of chilling injury were therefore examined. Cartons of about 100 fruit were stored at 3, 1 or –1°C for 0, 10, 20 or 30 days before transfer to a 22°C post-storage observation room. Fruit were assessed for chilling injury at transfer and every 10 days post-storage for 30 days. At all observation times the main effects of temperature and storage duration on the incidence of chilling injury and chilling injury index were significant with no interaction. The highest incidences of chilling injury were observed for fruit stored at –1°C (21%) and for 30 days (28%). Similarly, the chilling injury index was greatest for fruit stored at –1°C (0.47) for 30 days compared with fruit stored at 3 and 1°C (0.34 and 0.27, respectively). The incidence of chilling injury and the chilling injury index increased 2.1- and 3.0-fold, respectively, between the 10 and 30 day post-storage observations. Moisture loss was positively correlated with the chilling injury index (R2 = 0.53; P<0.001), supporting the hypothesis that moisture loss and time are important determinants of the expression of chilling injury. Based on this study, it is recommended that fruit storage and transit time be kept to ≤20 days and transport temperatures are maintained at ≥1°C. The expression of chilling injury could be minimised by reducing the post-storage handling time when moisture loss is expected to be highest.
Additional keywords: postharvest, rind, breakdown, flavedo, Citrus sinensis.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Murray Valley Citrus Board, the CSIRO Food into Asia initiative, and also the Australian citrus industry through Horticulture Australia Ltd. Paul Courtney, Nicole Turner and Jacqui Fitos are thanked for providing technical assistance, and Paul Petrie is thanked for valued comments on the manuscript.
Cohen E,
Shapiro B,
Shalom Y, Klein JD
(1994) Water loss: a non-destructive indicator of enhanced cell membrane permeability of chilling-injured Citrus fruit. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 119, 983–986.
Edwards M,
Predebon S,
Dale M, Buchanan G
(1994) The effect of cold disinfestation treatment on the quality of Washington navel oranges in Sunraysia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 34, 515–519.
| Crossref |
Erkan M, Pekmezci M
(2000) The effects of different storage temperatures and postharvest treatments on storage and chilling injury of ‘Washington Navel’ oranges. Acta Horticulturae 518, 93–100.
Klotz LJ, Haas ARC
(1933) Some differences between button-blossom halves of citrus fruits. California Citrograph 18, 318–324.
Leguizamon G,
Luchsinger L, Razeto B
(2001) Water loss and ethylene as non-destructive symptoms of chilling injury in ‘Eureka’ lemons. Acta Horticulturae 553, 297–298.
Paull RE
(1999) Effect of temperature and relative humidity on fresh commodity quality. Postharvest Biology and Technology 15, 263–277.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Purvis AC
(1980) Influence of canopy depth on susceptibility of ‘Marsh’ grapefruit to chilling injury. HortScience 15, 731–733.
Purvis AC
(1984) Importance of water loss in the chilling injury of grapefruit stored at low temperature. Scientia Horticulturae 23, 261–267.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Purvis AC
(1985) Relationship between chilling injury of grapefruit and moisture loss during storage: amelioration by polyethylene shrink film. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 110, 385–388.
Rodriguez J,
Slutzky B, Ancheta O
(1981) Structure and ultrastructure of ‘Persian’ lime (Citrus aurantifolia) rind tissue at two temperatures. Proceedings of the International Society of Citriculture 2, 742–745.
Saltveit ME
(2002) The rate of ion leakage from chilling-sensitive tissue does not immediately increase upon exposure to chilling temperatures. Postharvest Biology and Technology 26, 295–304.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Schiffmann-Nadel M,
Lattar FS, Waks J
(1971) The response of grapefruit to different storage temperatures. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 96, 87–90.
Schirra M,
Agabbio M,
D’hallewin G,
Pala M, Ruggiu R
(1997) Response of Tarocco oranges to picking date, postharvest hot water dips, and chilling storage temperature. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 45, 3216–3220.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Tanner DJ, Amos ND
(2003) Temperature variability during shipment of fresh produce. Acta Horticulturae 599, 193–203.
Underhill SJ,
Dahler JM,
McLauchlan RL, Barker LR
(1999) Susceptibility of ‘Lisbon’ and ‘Eureka’ lemons to chilling injury. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 39, 757–760.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wild BL
(1993) Reduction of chilling injury in grapefruit and oranges stored at 1°C by prestorage hot dip treatments, curing, and wax application. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 33, 495–498.
| Crossref |
