WATER LOSS AND ETHYLENE AS NON-DESTRUCTIVE SYMPTOMS OF CHILLING INJURY IN ‘EUREKA’ LEMONS

Lemons develop chilling injury (CI) when stored below 13°C. Characteristic CI symptoms in lemons include surface pitting, membranous stain (membranosis), albedo browning and small, dehydrated-looking depressions, called peteca, chilling-enhanced ethylene rate and water loss (Cohen et al., 1994; McCollum et al., 1991). These manifestations could be influenced by preharvest factors such as season and maturity, and by storage temperature. Physiological manifestations could be used for evaluating CI effects prior to the development of visual symptoms. The present work studied the use of water loss and ethylene evolution rate (EER) as CI indicators in ‘Eureka’ lemon (Citrus limon Burm).