ISHS Acta Horticulturae 297: II International Symposium on Kiwifruit
A MODEL FOR PREDICTING ETHYLENE CONCENTRATION GRADIENTS WITHIN KIWIFRUIT PACKAGES |
| Authors: | Peter B. Jeffery, Nigel H. Banks, Arthur C. Cameron, Donald J. Cleland, Errol W. Hewett |
| Keywords: | Actinida deliciosa, finite difference model, skin resistance, ethylene concentration |
| Abstract:
Ethylene concentrations around kiwifruit during storage and transport are of great concern to the industry because of ethylene's potential to induce rapid fruit softening. However, softening of fruit tissues is a response to internal rather than external ethylene concentrations. Internal ethylene concentrations depend largely upon rate of ethylene production, skin resistance to ethylene diffusion (Rfruit), the resistance of packaging materials to ethylene diffusion (Rpack) and ambient ethylene concentrations. This paper outlines a simple model that describes the interactions of these factors within kiwifruit packs. Representative values for model parameters were obtained by experimentation and from the literature. The model predicts that, because of the magnitude of Rfruit, package ethylene concentrations are only likely to be physiologically significant when rates of ethylene production are very small, i.e., for preclimacteric fruit. The model also predicts the presence of significant ethylene concentration gradients within the pack atmosphere around climacteric fruit at 20 C. | |
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