Postharvest responses to high fruit temperatures in the field
2000
Woolf, A.B. | Ferguson, I.B.
The impact on postharvest responses, of preharvest exposure of fruit and vegetables to direct sunlight, with associated high tissue temperatures, is reviewed. Fruit and vegetables flesh temperatures well above 40 degrees C have been recorded in direct sunlight in a wide range of crops in both hot and temperate climates. These high temperatures, both in terms of diurnal fluctuations and long-term exposure, can result in differences in internal quality properties such as sugar contents, tissue firmness, and oil levels, as well as in mineral content differences. Fruit with different temperature histories will also respond differently to postharvest low temperatures and heat treatments used for insect disinfestation. For example, avocado fruit from exposed sites on a tree have less chilling injury, whereas more chilling damage is found in exposed tissues of citrus and persimmons. Mechanisms of high temperature effects on postharvest responses are discussed, including the role of heat shock proteins, membrane damage, and skin characteristics. Differences in exposure of fruit on the tree may be responsible for much of the wide variation commonly found in fruit with regard to at-harvest quality, ripening and postharvest behaviour.
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