Respiration Rate Of Fruit Research Articles

Impact of packaging materials on bruise damage in kiwifruit during free drop test

Inappropriate packages and packaging materials are the main causes of bruise damage in the postharvest handling of kiwifruit. This study was conducted to identify the suitable materials to be used as collection box during sorting and grading of kiwifruits. Three different materials of box, wooden box, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) box, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) box were used to simulate kiwifruit dropping in grading line. Among three treatments, the lowest weight loss (4.6%) was observed in the EPS box surface-impacted fruits, the bruise index and bruise area of fruits from EPS box were 36.2% and 47.1% less than that of wooden box, respectively. Furthermore, the peak level of ethylene production and respiration rate of fruits from EPS box was 32.6%, 28.9% lower than that of wooden box, respectively. Compared to wooden box and HDPE box surface, EPS box surface slowed softening, reduced electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde accumulation. Additionally, lower bruise damage by the EPS box surface was also displayed in physiological attributors including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anion (O2–) and the activities of antioxidant enzymes. The collective data indicated that the EPS box surface reduced the adverse physiological changes caused by dropping of kiwifruit. These results indicated the potential of EPS as packaging material of collection box in grading line to reduce bruise damage and to preserve the quality of kiwifruit.

Choline chloride alleviates the pericarp browning of harvested litchi fruit by inhibiting energy deficiency mediated programmed cell death

Abstract The effect of choline chloride (ChCl) on litchi pericarp browning and the potential regulating mechanism was investigated in this study. Results showed that 1 g L−1 ChCl significantly inhibited the development of pericarp browning and reduced respiration rate of litchi fruit. Meanwhile, choline chloride treatment delayed the programmed cell death (PCD) indicated by lower DNA laddering, inhibition of programmed cell death-related genes expression and higher soluble protein content. Additionally, ChCl treatment maintained higher ATP content and energy charge due to higher level of glycine betaine and regulation of energy metabolism related genes and ATPase activities by ChCl treatment. Finally, higher ATP status in ChCl treated fruit resulted in lower accumulation of reactive oxygen species via enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase. Taken together, the results obtained in this study suggested that choline chloride reduced pericarp browning of litchi fruit possibly through inhibiting energy deficiency mediated PCD.

EFFECT OF SOME ESSENTIAL OILS, SALTS AND SALICYLIC ACID ON REDUCING DECAY, KEEPING QUALITY AND PROLONGING SHELF-LIFE OF CANINO APRICOT FRUITS

The present study was conducted on fruits harvested from 12 years old Canino apricot trees grown in a private orchard situated at Dinoushr village, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Al-Gharbia Governorate, Egypt during 2017and 2018 seasons to study the effect of essential oils and some salts on reducing decay, maintain quality and prolonging shelf-life of Canino apricot fruits. Canino apricot fruits were dipped inessential oil: Thyme oil at 100 ppm, Spearmint oil at 1000 ppm, Clove oil at 1000 ppm, Eucalyptus oil at 1000 ppm and Mustard oil at 1000 ppm, and salts: K2CO3 at 2%, KHCO3 at 2%, CaCl2 at 3% and Salicylic acid at 2%as well as distilled water (control) for 5 min. The treated fruits were stored at 0±1°C with 90 – 95 % RH. for 28 days. The data showed that the weight loss, decay and respiration rate of the Canino apricot fruits were decreased significantly by the use of Eucalyptus, Spearmint and Clove oils. Also, applications of Eucalyptus, Spearmint, Clove and K2CO3were effective in maintaining firmness, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, soluble solids content and SSC/acid ratio of Canino apricot fruits during cold storage period. Accordingly, Eucalyptus oil, Spearmint oil and Cloves oil are more effective in reducing weight loss, decay and respiration rate as well as maintaining overall quality of Canino apricot fruits under cold storage conditions for 28 days, as compared to other treatments.

Application of active Kurdi gum and Farsi gum-based coatings in banana fruits.

This study evaluated the effects of Kurdi gum (KG) and Farsi gum (FG) based coatings with and without ethanolic Prosopis farcta extract (PFE; 0, 0.25 and 0.5%) on microbial, physicochemical, and sensory properties as well as respiration and ethylene production rates of banana fruits during storage (13°C, 80% relative humidity (RH)) for 21days and afterward 7days at simulated market conditions (25°C, 60% RH). The treatment of fruits with KG + PFE 0.5% resulted in the best bacterial, chemical, and sensory properties at the end of the storage period. It can be concluded that the application of KG and FG coatings enriched with PFE can be applied to increase the commercialization of bananas during prolonged storage.

Determination of nutritional values and postharvest performance in different types of tomatoes stored under shelf-life conditions

In this study, beefsteak (cv. ‘Tybif’), heirloom (cv. ‘Yuksel Koy’) and cluster types (cv. ‘Merkur’) of tomato were harvested at breaker stage of maturity and stored at 20ºC temperature and 60±5% relative humidity for comparing their ethylene production, respiration rate, postharvest performance and nutritional characteristics. Analysis for weight loss, antioxidant activity, carotenoid, flavonoid, total phenolics, ascorbic acid contents, ethylene production, respiration rates and amount of unmarketable fruits were determined during 21 days of storage. Weight loss, ethylene production, respiration rate, carotenoid content and amount of unmarketable fruits exhibited increase whereas flavonoid and ascorbic acid content showed decrease with extending storage duration. Maximum antioxidant activity, carotenoid, total phenolics and ascorbic acid contents and minimum weight loss, ethylene production and respiration rate were noted in beefsteak type of tomatoes. Based on results obtained it can be concluded that beefsteak type of tomatoes can be successfully stored with maximal nutritional quality for 21 days of storage as compared to heirloom and cluster types of tomatoes.

Plant water status and genotype affect fruit respiration in grapevines

An understanding of fruit gas exchange is necessary to determine the carbon balance in grapevines, but little attention has been paid to the relationships among fruit respiration, plant water status and genetic variability. The effect of plant water status and genotype on cluster respiration was studied over two seasons (2013 and 2014) under field conditions using a whole cluster respiration chamber. Whole cluster CO2 fluxes were measured in growing grapevines at hard-green, veraison and ripening stages under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, and under light and dark conditions in two grapevine varieties, Tempranillo and Grenache. A direct relationship between cluster CO2 efflux and plant water status was found at hard-green stage. Genotype influenced the fruit CO2 efflux that resulted in higher carbon losses in Tempranillo than in Grenache. Fruit respiration rates decreased from the first berry developmental stages to ripening stage. The integration of fruit respiration rates under light and dark conditions showed the magnitude of fruit carbon losses and gains as well as interesting variety and environmental conditions effects on those processes.

Postharvest respiration of fruits and environmental factors interaction: An approach by dynamic regression models

The respiratory metabolism of fruits is affected by multiple internal (product) and external (environmental) factors that often interact with each other. Among the external factors that have the greatest influence on respiration are temperature, air composition, moisture content and illumination. The aim of this paper is to elucidate the influence of environmental factors on the respiration rate of peach fruits based on transfer models obtained by dynamic regression modelling (ARIMAX). The fitted ARIMA models met the criteria of parsimony and white noise in residuals. The estimated coefficients of each model were statistically significant under the Durbin-Watson (DW), Akaike (AIC) and Schwarz (SBC) criteria. Transfer functions revealed 0.15% and 1.9% increase, and 0.001% decrease in the respiration rate of the peach fruit for each unit of change in temperature, relative humidity and illumination of the storage environment, respectively. The respiration rate response took place 1-8 minutes after the change in environmental variables had occurred. It was concluded that the dynamic regression modelling is reliable for predicting the physiological response of fruits the effect of external factors imposed continuously during postharvest handling.

Effects of bruising and storage duration on physiological response and quality attributes of pomegranate fruit

This study examined the effects of impact bruise damage on the postharvest physiological, response, physicochemical quality and antioxidant properties of pomegranate fruit. Fruit were subjected to low (20 cm), medium (40 cm) and high (60 cm) drop impacts by falling freely once onto the cheek position to a hard surface. Bruised and control (non-dropped) fruit were further stored at 5 ± 0.5 °C for 90 d plus 4-day shelf storage at 20 ± 2 °C. Fresh arils were obtained from the bruise-damaged and control fruit at 14 d intervals for physico-chemical and phytochemical quality evaluation. Impact bruising induced resulted in a 2-fold fruit respiration rate at least during the first 4 weeks of storage. Changes in total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA) were significantly (p < 0.05) induced by bruising at medium and high drop impact. Furthermore, high impact bruising resulted in 30 % of both decay incidence and internal fruit decay of fruit after 12-week storage. Furthermore, the combination of drop impact and storage significantly (p < 0.05) affected peel hue angle (hº), as well as aril lightness (L*), redness (a*), chroma (C*) and hº. The radical scavenging activity and total phenolic content were higher in bruised-damage fruit at medium and high impacts.

Effects of Hot Air Treatments on Postharvest Storage of Newhall Navel Orange.

The effects of hot air flow (HAF) treatment on the postharvest storage of ‘Newhall’ navel oranges were investigated in this study. Studies were conducted with two separate sections. First of all, the effects of HAF at 37 °C for 36 h, for 48 h, and for 60 h were tested on fruit decay and weight loss. Thus, the optimal treatment was found as HAF at 37 °C for 48 h based on the fruit decay percentage and weight loss, and further studies were carried out with this treatment. The HAF-treated and control fruits were flowed at 37 °C and 20 °C with relative humidity (RH) of 85–95% for 48 h, respectively. After flowing, fruits of both treatments were individually film-packed, precooled (10–12 °C, 12 h), and stored (6 ± 0.5 °C and 85–90% relative humidity) for 120 days. Regular (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 days) measurements were carried out for analyzing total soluble solid (TSS) content, titratable acid (TA) content, vitamin C (VC) content, total sugar content, respiration rate, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and protective enzyme activities. The results indicated that HAF treatment significantly inhibited the MDA content and respiration rate of navel orange fruits after 45 d storage. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) enzyme activities were enhanced after 60 d storage, while polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme activities were enhanced throughout the storage period. Results suggested that the SOD and POD activities are highly related with respiratory activities and could be enhanced with hot air flow. Meanwhile, HAF treatment maintained high content of TSS, total sugar, TA, and VC.

Modeling on respiration kinetics and modified atmospheric packaging of fig fruit

The article demonstrates the effect of the respiration rate of fig fruit at different storage temperatures (5–35 °C) and the designing of its modified atmospheric packaging. The average O2 consumption rates $$\left( {{\text{R}}_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }} } \right)$$ and CO2 evolution rate $$\left( {{\text{R}}_{{{\text{CO}}_{2} }} } \right)$$ of fig fruits within 5–35 °C were varied from 4.02 to 26.18 mL kg−1 h−1 and 4.89 to 29.19 mL kg−1 h−1, respectively. The respiration rate at 35 °C was increased up to 6.51 times in terms of O2 and 5.97 times in terms of CO2 than the respiration rate at 5 °C. The results showed that under steady state condition at 35 °C there were almost 43.3% and 42.8% decrease in $${\text{R}}_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }}$$ and $${\text{R}}_{{{\text{CO}}_{2} }}$$ values with respect to increase in time. The enzyme kinetics model in combination with the Arrhenius equation precisely predicted the respiration rate of fig fruit at different storage temperatures. The maximum respiration rate (Vm) for the enzyme kinetics model was increased from 10.910 to 45.620 mL kg−1 h−1 in terms of O2 and from 12.670 to 50.310 mL kg−1 h−1 in terms of CO2. The designing of modified atmospheric packaging was done to evaluate the influence of time and temperature on the respiration rate of fig fruit with various packaging materials. The modified atmosphere in polypropylene package with equilibrium concentration for O2 (0.0878) and CO2 (0.0971) was established within a period of 14 h was found to be the best suitable packaging material for extending the shelf life of fig fruit.

Modelling respiration rate of dragon fruit as a function of gas composition and temperature

The application of controlled atmosphere and modified atmosphere packaging to extend the shelf life of dragon fruit requires insight into the respiration behaviour of the fruit under different storage conditions. To this end, this study focused on characterising the respiration kinetics of dragon fruit using a dynamic closed depletion system. An integrated data analysis was performed using a Michaelis-Menten based respiration model extended with an Arrhenius equation to account for the effects of O2, CO2 and temperature. Iterative analysis of the data using different model versions eventually revealed that the classical Arrhenius equation did not suffice to explain the observed respiration behaviour over the whole temperature range (2 °C–35 °C). The experimental data consistently showed lower respiration at 35 °C as compared to what was predicted by the classical Arrhenius equation. To overcome this problem, a modified Arrhenius equation, incorporating the Boltzmann distribution function, was successfully introduced to account for this observed temperature effect, predicting a maximal respiration rate at 33.9 °C. The parameters of the final model were estimated with high precision, explaining 98 % the data variance. Additionally, it was shown that CO2 had an uncompetitive inhibition on oxidative respiration, while O2 concentration affected both oxidative respiration and fermentation. This is the first documented example of postharvest fruit respiration not following the classical Arrhenius’ law at what could still be considered near field temperatures.

Methyl Jasmonate Foliar Spray Substantially Enhances the Productivity, Quality and Phytochemical Contents of Pomegranate Fruit

As an alternative to chemicals, the use of phytohormones and growth regulators is considered as a novel method of enhancing the yield, quality parameters and nutritional capacity of fruit crops. Physiological responses and changes in quality attributes, yield, and phytochemicals of pomegranate fruits in response to foliar spray with different concentrations of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) at different growth and development stages were studied. MeJA in a concentration dependent manner, from 0.1 to 0.5 mM, substantially increased fruit total antioxidant and phenylalanine ammonialyase activities, total phenolics, ellagic acid, punicalagin, and tannic acid contents, sweetness, total soluble solids, whole fruit, aril and peel weights, firmness and juice content at harvest. MeJA substantially decreased fruit respiration rate and titratable acidity. Compared to the control, fruits from the trees treated with 0.5 mM MeJA showed 133% increase in aril weight, 141.4% increase in peel weight, 101% increase in fruit weight, and 24.7% increase in juice content (p ≤ 0.01). As a novel finding, the results showed that multiple spray of pomegranate trees and fruits with 0.5 mM MeJA is as an effective and practical strategy to enhance the yield, quality, and phytochemical contents of pomegranates.

Kinetics analysis of the effect of storage room temperature and packaging films characteristics on the rate of change of Sugar Palm Fruit (Arenga pinata) quality in A Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP)

Sugar palm fruit is a tropical fresh product which derived from sugar palm plants. Handling and storage of sugar palm fruit is still in the traditional way, and it creates difficulties for broader marketing. Storage air temperature and film packaging greatly affects to various factors of the fresh products damage that can be represented by the change in respiration rate of those produtcs. The aim of this study was to study the effect of storage temperature and plastic film characteristics on the change of the respiration rate of sugar palm fruit during storage period in the MAP. Several treatment combinations including storage temperature and plastic film thickness were investigated in the research. It was found that storage temperature had stronger effect on the respiration rate of sugar palm fruit as compared to the effect of packaging film thickness. The higher storage temperature the longer would the time to reach constant O2 and resulted in the higher respiration rate. Statistical analysis indicated that storage temperature, packaging film thickness, and the interaction of those two factors were significantly affect the respiration rate of the fruit. Arrhenius kinetics could explain the effect of storage temperature on respiration rate of sugar palm fruit.

Effects of chitosan treatment on the storability and quality properties of longan fruit during storage

Effects of various concentrations of Kadozan (chitosan) treatment on storability and quality properties of harvested ‘Fuyan’ longans were investigated. Compared to the control samples, Kadozan treated-longans displayed lower fruit respiration rate, lower pericarp cell membrane permeability, pericarp browning index, pulp breakdown index, fruit disease index, and weight loss, but higher rate of commercially acceptable fruit, higher levels of pericarp chlorophyll, carotenoid, anthocyanin, flavonoid and total phenolics, higher amounts of pulp total soluble sugar, sucrose, total soluble solids, and vitamin C. These results revealed Kadozan treatment could increase storability and retain better quality of harvested longan fruit. Among different concentrations of Kadozan, the dilution of 1:500 (VKadozan: VKadozan + Water) showed the best results in storability and maintained the best quality of longans during storage. These findings demonstrated that Kadozan could be a facile and eco-friendly postharvest handling approach for increasing storability and lengthening shelf-life of harvested ‘Fuyan’ longan fruit.

The role of ROS-induced change of respiratory metabolism in pulp breakdown development of longan fruit during storage

Compared to the control longans, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-treated longans exhibited higher index of pulp breakdown, higher fruit respiration rate, higher activities of pulp phosphohexose isomerase (PGI), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), cytochrome C oxidase (CCO), ascorbic acid oxidase (AAO) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), but lower activity of pulp nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide kinase (NADK). H2O2-treated longans also exhibited lower total activities of pulp glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGDH), lower levels of pulp NADP(H), but higher levels of pulp NAD(H). These data indicated that H2O2-stimulated longan pulp breakdown was owing to a decreased proportion of pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), the increased proportions of Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway (EMP), tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and cytochrome pathway (CCP) in total respiratory pathways. These findings further revealed that H2O2 could enhance respiration rate, and thus accelerate pulp breakdown occurrence and shorten the shelf life of longan fruit.

Apple polyphenols delay senescence and maintain edible quality in litchi fruit during storage

The present study evaluated the impacts of exogenous apple polyphenols (AP) treatment on senescence-related physiological characteristics and edible qualities in ‘Dingxiang’ litchi fruit during storage at ambient temperature (25°C). The results exhibited that 5 g L−1 AP treatment effectively delayed the development of litchi pericarp browning, and browning indices from 4 to 8 in AP-treated fruit averaged 40% lower than those in control fruit. AP treatment reduced the respiration rate and weight loss in litchi fruit during storage. AP application to litchi fruit slowed the changes in glucose and fructose contents while inhibiting the decline in sucrose. AP treatment also resulted in higher contents of organic acids (malic acid, citric acid, succinic acid, and tartaric acid), phenolic compounds (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, rutin and total phenolics), ascorbic acid and glutathione, consequently contributing to maintenance of flavor and nutritional quality in litchi fruit., Moreover, compared to control fruit, AP treatment improved antioxidant capacity in litchi fruit, as indicated by higher DPPH radical-scavenging activity and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The findings suggest that AP application could be a promising postharvest strategy to delay senescence and maintain edible quality of litchi fruit.

Synergistic interaction of natamycin with carboxymethyl chitosan for controlling Alternata alternara, a cause of black spot rot in postharvest jujube fruit

Black spot rot of jujube, caused by Alternata alternara, is an important disease affecting jujube tree and fruit production. In this study, the mixtures of natamycin (NATA) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) were investigated for their combined and/or individual bioactivity against A. alternara and the quality maintenance of postharvest jujube fruit. The combined effectiveness between NATA and CMCS was calculated by Wadley’s method, and the results indicated synergistic interactions (SR ≥ 1.5) between NATA and CMCS up to the ratios of 1: 100 and 1: 500. Then, an emulsion was developed by mixing NATA and CMCS and was characterized by determining the particle size and the zeta potential. The results suggested that the emulsion has great physical stability after storage for 60 d at 25 °C. Furthermore, the emulsion was applied to the postharvest treatment of fresh jujube fruit. The results indicated that the treatment significantly decreased the fruit respiration rate and ethylene production, reduced postharvest natural decay, promoted fruit firmness, and delayed loss of titratable acidity and vitamin C during the storage 40 d at 10 °C, maintaining a better quality of the jujube fruit. Finally, high-throughput sequencing was used to determine the sequences of the ITS2 gene in ITS5-1737F variable regions between the treated and control jujube fruit. The results showed that the emulsion reduced the entire fungal counts and altered the absolute abundance of plant pathogens, including Alternaria species, in the jujube fruit. Taken together, these results suggested that the formulation incorporating NATA and CMCS represents an alternative to control postharvest diseases and to improve the shelf life quality of jujube fruit.

Comparison between 'Fuyan' and 'Dongbi' longans in aril breakdown and respiration metabolism

This study aimed to investigate the difference between ‘Fuyan’ longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour. cv. Fuyan) fruit and ‘Dongbi’ longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour. cv. Dongbi) fruit in term of their aril breakdown and respiratory metabolism. As compared to ‘Fuyan’ longans, the ‘Dongbi’ longans exhibited lower fruit respiration rate, lower aril breakdown index, higher NADK activity, higher total activities of G-6-PDH and 6-PGDH, higher contents of NADP and NADPH, lower activities of AAO, CCO, PPO, PGI, and SDH, and lower contents of NAD and NADH in aril. These findings suggest that better storability and lower aril breakdown index in ‘Dongbi’ longans than ‘Fuyan’ longans might be due to lower activities of respiratory terminal oxidases, and lower respiratory metabolic pathways of EMP-TCA cycle related-enzymes in ‘Dongbi’ longan aril, which decreased respiratory rate and reduced the consumption of substrates, and subsequently maintained the integrity of the aril of ‘Dongbi’ longans during storage.

An Arduino-based low cost device for the measurement of the respiration rates of fruits and vegetables

A modular device based on open source software was developed for the determination of the respiration rates of produce in a closed system. The advantages of this system include simplicity, adaptability and low cost. The respirometer allowed the continuous measurement of CO2 concentration, barometric and differential pressures, and temperature. With the data obtained it was possible to calculate the CO2 production rate and to predict the O2 consumption rate and the respiratory quotient of the product, without using an O2 sensor. To assess the function of the device, the O2 and CO2 respiration rates of three products were determined. The good agreement observed between the respiratory quotient and the differential pressure suggests the possibility of using the differential pressure data as a direct indicator of the respiratory quotient evolution. This data could also be useful for monitoring metabolic shifts.

Influence of Chitosan-Based Coatings with UV Irradiation on Quality of Strawberry Fruit During Cold Storage

The objective of this work was to determine the effects of UV-C and chitosan coatings, alone or in conjunction, on the quality of strawberry fruit during storage. The treated fruits were examined for weight loss, respiration rate, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid contents, total anthocyanins, total phenolic contents, decay incidence and sensory analysis of strawberry fruit were investigated during cold storage 1±0.5°C and 90±5% RH for 15 days. The result showed that chitosan coating with UV-C irradiation could further reduce decay incidence of strawberry fruit, restrain increase of respiration rate and weight loss of strawberry fruit compared to other treatments. Moreover, the total anthocyanins and total phenolic contents were maintained at higher level, and the decrease of ascorbic acid was restricted during storage period. Likewise, sensory analysis results also showed the effectiveness of UV-C + chitosan treatment by retaining the quality of strawberry fruit. Control and individual UV-C treatment had similar effects on respiration rate and weight loss. The results showed that UV-C + chitosan treatment can be an effective method for enhancing the phytochemical content and delaying fruit senescence of strawberry fruit during cold storage.