Anoxia Treatment for Delaying Skin Browning, Inhibiting Disease Development and Maintaining the Quality of Litchi Fruit

Yueming Jiang*, Xinguo Su, Xuewu Duan, Wenbin Lin and Yuebiao Li

South China Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510650 Guangzhou LeYiJu, P. R. China

Article history:
Received: January 26, 2004
Accepted: April 15, 2004

Key words:
anoxia, Litchi chinensis, quality, storage treatment

Summary:
Litchi fruit has a very short shelf life after harvest, so marketers and consumers alike desire longer periods of storage, transportation and distribution. To extend shelf life, anoxia treatments were used for the fruit. Litchi fruit were exposed to pure N₂ for 0, 3, 6, 12 or 24 h. They were then kept individually in closed but vented containers for 6 days in the dark at 20 °C and 95–100 % relative humidity. Exposure of litchi fruit to N₂ for 3 or 6 h markedly delayed skin browning, reduced rot development and maintained higher concentrations of total soluble solids, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid after 6 days of storage. Anoxia treatment for 24 h reduced browning index, but it accelerated disease development, compared to the control. Thus, a pre-storage pure N₂ treatment for 3 or 6 h can be an effective means of reducing rotting while maintaining the physical quality of the fruit. 

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