BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES AND QUALITY LOSSES OF KIWIFRUIT UNDER NORMAL, MODIFIED AND CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE STORAGE CONDITIONS

A. Erýp, R. Türk, M.H. Özer, N. Sývrýtepe
In the last decade, with its increasing international popularity, kiwifruit has been introduced as a commercial crop into certain ecological regions of Turkey. Subsequently, we have concentrated on finding the optimum storage conditions for kiwifruit grown in our region. This trial was conducted between 1994 and 1995 at the Cold Storage Unit of Uludað University. Kiwifruit cv. ‘Hayward’ were immediately transported after harvest to the cold storage unit, and precooled by placing them into plastic trays. Subsequently, they were stored for 180 days at 0 ± 0.5°C and 90-95% RH under either normal atmosphere (NA) as the control treatment (CO2:O2 ratio 0:21), or controlled atmosphere (CA) having ratios 5:2, 3:3, 5:5 and 3:5; or modified atmosphere (MA) using LDPE plastic films 50, 60 and 100 μ thick. Following the storage period, fruits were kept for 30 days at 20 ± 3°C and 60 ± 5% RH to evaluate their shelf life. Physical and biochemical analyses were conducted during storage (on days 0, 90, 150 and 180) and during the shelf life period (on days 0, 15 and 30). These analyses determined weight loss (%), respiration rate (mg CO2/kg h), dry matter (g/100 g), total chlorophyll (mg/100 g), ascorbic acid (mg/100 g), total sugar (g/100 g), invert sugar (g/100 g), water soluble solids (%), titratable acidity (%), pH and flesh fruit firmness (kg). The data were presented in tables and the general appearance of kiwifruit from the various treatments were illustrated by photographs.

The results are summarized as follows. We found that Turkish kiwifruit could be stored for 6 months (without any steps being taken to reduce ethylene concentration) at 0 ± 0.5°C and 90–95% RH under CA conditions either with 5:5 or 5:2 combinations, and also under MA conditions with LDPE of 50 μm. It was also determined that the optimum shelf life of kiwifruit after storage under these conditions was 15 days.

Erýp, A., Türk, R., Özer, M.H. and Sývrýtepe, N. (1998). BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES AND QUALITY LOSSES OF KIWIFRUIT UNDER NORMAL, MODIFIED AND CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE STORAGE CONDITIONS. Acta Hortic. 464, 528-528
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.464.116
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.464.116
464_116
528-528

Acta Horticulturae