Fruits and vegetables are extremely susceptible to decay and easily lose commercial value after harvest. Different strategies have been developed to control postharvest decay and prevent quality deterioration during postharvest storage, including cold storage, controlled atmosphere (CA), and application of biotic and abiotic stimulus. In this review, mechanisms related to protein level response...

Pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) is a non-climacteric fruit that reaches its best eating quality when harvested ripe, decreasing thereafter during storage (CHIEN et al., 2007). As a new crop, there have been limited studies focused on extending the postharvest quality of pitaya fruit. The main postharvest problems of pitaya fruit are mechanical injury, chilling injury, decay, and water loss (NERD et...

To improve storage/shipping quality of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), the effect of calcium chloride (CaCl2) added to hydro-cooling water on physiological and biochemical processes related to fruit and pedicel quality was investigated on two major cultivars. The fruit tissue Ca content increased up to 29-85% logarithmically for 'Sweetheart' and 39-188% linearly for 'Lapins' as CaCl2 rate incre...

fruit spoilage of pomegranate is one of the most important problems in postharvest stages and its exports. this decay is mainly due to the influence and spread of saprophytic or parasitic fungi into the pomegranate fruits. in this purpose effects of essential oil from medicinal plants include; caraway (carum carvi) and peppermint (mentha piperetta), and packaging (whit or no polyethylene bags) ...

Several natural antimicrobial compounds derived from essential oils of plants were investigated for their efficacies in inhibiting decay and extending the shelf life of strawberries (Fragaria x ananassas Duch.). The severity of decay in strawberries stored at 10 degrees C was significantly reduced by treatment with thymol. Treatments with menthol or eugenol also suppressed the fungal growth, bu...

The beneficial effects of proper temperature management include reduced decay, improved firmness and skin color, greener stems, and reduced pitting. Improper handling temperature rapidly reduces shelf life. Modified atmosphere packaging has lengthened the postharvest life of cherry fruit by reducing the rate of growth of decay organisms, retarding softening and retaining stem color. Modified at...

Aging and imperfections provide important visual cues for realism. We present a novel physically-based approach for simulating the biological aging and decay process in fruits. This method simulates interactions between multiple processes. Our biologically-derived, reaction-diffusion model generates growth patterns for areas of fungal and bacterial infection. Fungal colony spread and propagatio...

Detailed Accomplishments in 2008-09: Processors are concerned about peel integrity of CMNP-treated fruit. We conducted 2 trials in March and April with Valencia oranges to determine the postharvest effect of CMNP applied to canopies for the purpose of loosening fruit on fruit crush force, peel puncture resistance, and peel puncture depth. Fruit were collected during our harvesting trial studies...