The influence of Storage Time and Temperature on Chilling Injury in Fuyu and Suruga Persimmon (Diospyros kaki L) grown in subtropical Australia

Non-astringent persimmon production in Queensland, Australia is mainly of the industry standard cultivar Fuyu, but cultivar Suruga may have improved storage and export potential. To study quality, storage and shelf life attributes, samples of both cultivars were assessed before and after exposure to temperatures of 0, 5, 10 and 20 °C, followed by 7 days at 20 °C to simulate shelf life. Fuyu fruit were increasingly damaged by more than 7 days at 10 °C or below, with 5 ° being especially injurious. Suruga could withstand these temperatures for at least 42 days at 0 or 10 °C, but 5 °C did produce some chilling injury (CI). This disorder was associated with a loss of yellow colour (the b scale, blue to yellow) but no other physical or compositional characteristic was consistently associated with the incidence of chilling injury. Suruga was less prone to CI than Fuyu, and thus may have greater possibilities for export. © 1995.