To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest?
Chilling injury (CI) is a physiological rind disorder that commonly occurs during the long-time cold storage of citrus. The occurrence of CI in citrus reduces fruit quality and shelf-life, leading to market rejection. The susceptibility of citrus to CI during prolonged storage period depends on the...
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Agriculture and Food Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154324006616 |
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| author | Daniel Onwude Jade North Thijs Defraeye Paul Cronje |
| author_facet | Daniel Onwude Jade North Thijs Defraeye Paul Cronje |
| author_sort | Daniel Onwude |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chilling injury (CI) is a physiological rind disorder that commonly occurs during the long-time cold storage of citrus. The occurrence of CI in citrus reduces fruit quality and shelf-life, leading to market rejection. The susceptibility of citrus to CI during prolonged storage period depends on the differences in pre-harvest factors. However, the impact of pre-harvest variability on the postharvest occurrence of CI for citrus remains largely unknown. To address this, the impact of the variability in production area, cultivar, orchards and fruit harvest maturity on CI of citrus was investigated over two growing seasons. Four main citrus production regions in South Africa were considered, namely, Citrusdal, Nelspruit, Letsitele and Sundays River Valley (SRV). Five cultivars representing the main citrus subgroups were selected; ‘Turkey’ and ‘Midknight’ Valencia oranges, ‘Nova’ and ‘Nadorcott’ mandarins, and ‘Star Ruby’ grapefruit. For the variability in harvest maturity, fruit were harvested with two week harvest intervals from 8 weeks before commercial harvest until 6 weeks after. Our result revealed that differences in production area, cultivar, orchards, and fruit maturity have a significant impact on CI susceptibility. However, among these factors, orchard variability had the lowest impact on CI susceptibility, while the regional weather variability between production areas had the most significant impact. Fruit from the SRV, a coastal region, showed the highest risk of CI for all cultivars. They were up to 70 % more susceptible than those from Citrusdal, Nelspruit, and Letsitele. The CI susceptibility of ‘Turkey’ and ‘Midknight’ Valencias is ∼60 % more than those of mandarins and grapefruit. Fruit harvested early in the season (e.g., 8 weeks before commercial harvest) have a very high risk of CI, while those at the commercial maturity stage will have the highest CI tolerance. This study provides insight into which major pre-harvest factors affect the quality of citrus postharvest. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8cf317b73a7a4b9aa4fb03d403c034db |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-1543 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Journal of Agriculture and Food Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-8cf317b73a7a4b9aa4fb03d403c034db2025-08-20T02:03:46ZengElsevierJournal of Agriculture and Food Research2666-15432025-03-011910162410.1016/j.jafr.2024.101624To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest?Daniel Onwude0Jade North1Thijs Defraeye2Paul Cronje3Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland; Corresponding author.Citrus Research International, Department of Horticultural Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602, South AfricaEmpa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland; Food Quality and Design, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the NetherlandsCitrus Research International, Department of Horticultural Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa; Corresponding author.Chilling injury (CI) is a physiological rind disorder that commonly occurs during the long-time cold storage of citrus. The occurrence of CI in citrus reduces fruit quality and shelf-life, leading to market rejection. The susceptibility of citrus to CI during prolonged storage period depends on the differences in pre-harvest factors. However, the impact of pre-harvest variability on the postharvest occurrence of CI for citrus remains largely unknown. To address this, the impact of the variability in production area, cultivar, orchards and fruit harvest maturity on CI of citrus was investigated over two growing seasons. Four main citrus production regions in South Africa were considered, namely, Citrusdal, Nelspruit, Letsitele and Sundays River Valley (SRV). Five cultivars representing the main citrus subgroups were selected; ‘Turkey’ and ‘Midknight’ Valencia oranges, ‘Nova’ and ‘Nadorcott’ mandarins, and ‘Star Ruby’ grapefruit. For the variability in harvest maturity, fruit were harvested with two week harvest intervals from 8 weeks before commercial harvest until 6 weeks after. Our result revealed that differences in production area, cultivar, orchards, and fruit maturity have a significant impact on CI susceptibility. However, among these factors, orchard variability had the lowest impact on CI susceptibility, while the regional weather variability between production areas had the most significant impact. Fruit from the SRV, a coastal region, showed the highest risk of CI for all cultivars. They were up to 70 % more susceptible than those from Citrusdal, Nelspruit, and Letsitele. The CI susceptibility of ‘Turkey’ and ‘Midknight’ Valencias is ∼60 % more than those of mandarins and grapefruit. Fruit harvested early in the season (e.g., 8 weeks before commercial harvest) have a very high risk of CI, while those at the commercial maturity stage will have the highest CI tolerance. This study provides insight into which major pre-harvest factors affect the quality of citrus postharvest.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154324006616Food qualityPre-harvest variabilityGrowing conditionsClimate differencesCold chainThermal damage |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Onwude Jade North Thijs Defraeye Paul Cronje To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest? Journal of Agriculture and Food Research Food quality Pre-harvest variability Growing conditions Climate differences Cold chain Thermal damage |
| title | To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest? |
| title_full | To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest? |
| title_fullStr | To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest? |
| title_full_unstemmed | To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest? |
| title_short | To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest? |
| title_sort | to what extent does pre harvest variability affect chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest |
| topic | Food quality Pre-harvest variability Growing conditions Climate differences Cold chain Thermal damage |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154324006616 |
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