Effects of phytosanitary irradiation on the quality and postharvest storage performance of ‘Orri’ mandarins

Abstract

‘Orri’ is the main mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) cultivar grown in Israel and exported to global markets. As part of the export process, these fruits are exposed to quarantine treatments against the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitus capitate. In the current study, we examined the effects of phytosanitary ionizing irradiation treatments at doses of between 150 and 400 Gy on the quality and postharvest storage performance of ‘Orri’ mandarins. In 2021, we exposed ‘Orri’ mandarins to gamma irradiation doses of 150 and 400 Gy, and then stored the fruit for 3 or 6 weeks at 5 °C, followed by one additional week under shelf-life conditions at 22 °C. In 2022, we exposed ‘Orri’ mandarins to 150 Gy, which is the approved quarantine treatment against fruit flies, and then stored the fruit for 4 or 9 weeks at 5 °C, followed by one or two additional weeks under shelf-life conditions at 22 °C. The results indicate that the examined irradiation treatments do not affect the quality or postharvest storage performance of ‘Orri’ mandarins, as no significant differences were observed between the treated fruit and the untreated control fruit, in terms of weight loss, firmness, color, decay, peel damage, juice total soluble solids, acidity and vitamin C contents, ethanol accumulation or perceived flavor. We conclude that 'Orri’ mandarins are tolerant of postharvest phytosanitary irradiation treatments.