Transportation and distribution temperatures affect fruit quality and physiological disorders in 'Wonhwang' pears.

Abstract

'Wonhwang' pear ( Nakai) often showed physiological disorder and quality deterioration during long-term storage and shelf life although this cultivar has the advantage of a good appearance and better taste for overseas exportation. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of temperature during transportation and continuing market temperature on fruit quality, and the occurrence of physiological disorder to set up the appropriate transportation and distribution temperatures in the fruits harvested at different times. Unripe fruits harvested 120 days after full bloom maintained higher firmness until 21days of shelf life at both 18 and than late harvested ones. Otherwise, ripe fruits harvested 130 days after full bloom showed high incidence of mealiness breakdown of flesh tissues in 21 days of shelf-life at of market temperature, but not in the fruits stored at . Late harvested fruits showed much severe physiological disorders when compared with early harvested ones that showed relatively lower respiration rates. Fruit quality parameters were more highly affected by market temperature than transportation temperature. Results showed that unripe fruits harvested at 120 days after full bloom maintains high marketability until 21 days of shelf-life, while the maximum shelf-life of ripe fruits harvested 130 days after full bloom will be considered at within 7 days.