Long-term storage of ‘Olinda’ oranges under chilling and.pdf

Postharvest Biology and Technology 16 (1999) 63–69 Long-term storage of ‘Olinda’ oranges under chilling and intermittent warming temperatures M. Schirra a,*, E. Cohen b a C.N.R.-Istituto per la Fisiologia della Maturazione e della Conserazione del Frutto delle Specie Arboree Mediterranee, 09170, Oristano, Italy b ARO, The Volcani Center, Institute for Technology Storage of Agricultural Crops, Bet Dagan, Israel Received 27 July 1998; accepted 17 November 1998 Abstract The influence of intermittent warming (IW) during storage, with cycles of 3 weeks at 3°C followed by 2 weeks at 15°C, on the keeping quality of ‘Olinda’ oranges, was investigated over a period of 25 weeks and compared to continuous storage at 3°C (chilling temperature). Intermittent warming delayed the onset of CI by approximately 10 weeks with respect to storage at 3°C and greatly enhanced resistance to CI development. There was very little rotting (6%) after 25 weeks of storage, with negligible differences caused by storage conditions. Soluble solids concentration (SSC), titratable acidity (TA) and maturity, as determined by SSC:TA ratio, were not significantly affected by temperature storage conditions. After 20 weeks acetaldehyde accumulation in the juice was significantly higher in fruit stored at 3°C than in that intermittently warmed, while ethanol levels were higher after 15 weeks. Respiration rates in fruit stored at constant temperature decreased significantly after 5 weeks, increasing slightly over the remaining weeks. Conversely, the respiration rate in fruit under IW was almost the same over the whole storage period. Ethylene