New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Influence of postharvest temperatures and the rate of fruit ripening
on internal postharvest rots and disorders of New Zealand `Hass'
avocado fruit
G. HOPKIRK
A. WHITE
D. J. BEEVER
S. K. FORBES
The Horticulture and Food Research Institute
of New Zealand
Mt Albert Research Centre
Private Bag 92 169
Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract Postharvest rots and internal disorders of `Hass'
avocado (
Persea americana) fruit develop during the latter stages of
fruit ripening, with symptoms first appearing when fruit are minimally ripe but
often becoming quite severe before the fruit are oversoft. Fruit ripened at
20deg.C and assessed at the same stage of ripeness, just before the flesh
becomes oversoft, had fewer postharvest rots if they had been previously stored
at 4 or 6deg.C, than if they had been stored at either lower or higher
temperatures. Postharvest disorders increased with increased length of storage.
Fruit failed to ripen properly at 30deg.C. Even at 25deg.C (a temperature
typically experienced by fruit exported from New Zealand), the level of
postharvest disorders was greater than in fruit ripened at 20deg.C. Best final
quality was obtained with fruit coolstored at 6deg.C and then ripened at
15deg.C. However, if fruit are to be ripened at c. 25deg.C, then final quality
was better if the fruit were not coolstored but held at a temperature closer to
the final ripening temperature. Fruit from a single orchard block, harvested,
coolstored, and ripened together, individually reached minimum eating ripeness
over an 8-day period. Fruit which ripened earliest had the fewest disorders,
with later ripening fruit typically having high levels of postharvest rots and
internal browning.
Keywords avocado; postharvest disorders; ripening;
postharvest temperature; postharvest rots; storage
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 1994, Vol. 22:
305-311
0114-0671/94/2203-0305 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1994
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (534K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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