Ripening of climacteric fruits initiated at low ethylene levels.
Wills R. B. H., Warton M. A., Mussa D. M. D. N., Chew L. P.
Author Affiliation: Centre for Advancement of Food Technology and Nutrition, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, NSW 2258, Australia.
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 41 : 89-92
Abstract : Mature, unripe mango (cv. Kensington Pride), peach (cultivars Fragar, Coronet, Loring and Flordagold), custard apple (Annona reticulata cv. Pink's Mammoth), kiwifruit (cv. Hayward) and tomato (cv. Floradade) were stored at 20°C in air containing ethylene at 0.005, 0.01, 0.1 1.0 and 10 µlitre/litre. The time to ripen all the climacteric fruits increased linearly with logarithmic decrease in ethylene concentration over the whole concentration range examined. Similar observations were also obtained with kiwifruit and custard apple held at 0 and 14°C, respectively. However, the sensitivity of fruits to ethylene varied with banana and kiwifruit > custard apple and mango > tomato, avocado and peach. Since the ethylene level around horticultural produce during marketing is always >0.005 µlitre/litre, the time that a climacteric fruit can be held in an unripe condition is currently less than optimal, but the intervention to limit ethylene action would appear to be only warranted for the most sensitive fruits.