Effect of Phytosanitary Irradiation Treatment on the Storage Life of ‘Jiro’ Persimmons at 15 °C

Abstract

Irradiation is becoming a more accepted phytosanitary market access treatment for some international horticultural trades. However, there is little information on the effects of phytosanitary irradiation treatment on persimmon fruit quality. ‘Jiro’ persimmon fruit were treated with an average of 769 Gray (Gy) at a commercial phytosanitary irradiation X-ray facility to examine the effect of this market access treatment on fruit quality during storage. After treatment, fruit were stored in air at 15 °C for up to three weeks. The results showed that, in general, there was no effect of irradiation treatment on fruit weight loss, calyx appearance, fruit firmness (objective and subjective), total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), internal appearance, and ethylene production rate. There were some treatment differences in fruit respiration rates and some aspects of fruit appearance and colour, where irradiated fruit had higher respiration rates and were slightly darker with higher levels of skin blemish, although these measured differences were not commercially significant. This study showed the promise of using low dose irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment for ‘Jiro’ persimmons, but more work is required to test other persimmon cultivars and other storage and marketing environments.

Effect of chitosan on post-harvest shelf life of persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.)

“…During early maturity, ethylene biosynthesis in persimmon fruit is high and leads to rapid senescence. Therefore, many researchers around the world are using numerous techniques that may help in prolonging the post-harvest life of fruits, especially persimmon, including treatment with hot air [Luo 2006], control and modified atmospheric storages [Dorria et al 2011], hypobaric treatment [Bibi et al 2021], gamma irradiations [Golding et al 2020], hot water and low temperature storages [Rasouli and Khademi 2018] and various types of packaging materials [Cia et al 2006], etc.…”