ISHS Acta Horticulturae 318: II International Symposium on Specialty and Exotic Vegetable Crops
POSTHARVEST STUDIES ON FOUR FRUIT-TYPE CHINESE VEGETABLES |
| Authors: | R. Zong, M. Cantwell, L. Morris, V. Rubatzky |
| Abstract:
Studies on the postharvest quality and physiology of angled luffa (Luffa acutangula), bitter melon (Momordica charantia), fuzzy melon (Benincasa hispida), and yard-long bean (Vigna sesquipedalis) were conducted over a range of storage temperatures (0, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15 and 20C with RH of 90–95%), and after transfer to 20C for 2–3 days to simulate marketing conditions. All four of these immature fruit vegetables are chilling sensitive and should not be held below 10C to 12.5C for a storage period of 2 weeks. Visual chilling symptoms were accentuated after transfer from storage temperatures to 15C, and included pitted lesions, russeting, black and brown surface discolorations, and a high incidence of decay. Fruit development (seed development, color changes) continued during storage at temperatures > 12.5C. Respiration rates at 10 and 20C were highest for yard-long bean (46 and 110 μl CO2/g-h), lowest for fuzzy melon (11 and 22 μl CO2/g-h) and intermediate for bitter melon (15 and 34 μl CO2/g-h) and angled luffa (19 and 44 μl CO2/g-h). These four fruit vegetables produced very little ethylene, but exposure to 10 ppm caused accelerated color and ripening-related changes, with yard-long bean and bitter melon being the most sensitive to ethylene. | |
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