Postharvest diseases and disorders in avocado cv. Hass and their relationship to preharvest management practices

Image Analysis Reveals That Lenticel Damage Does Not Result in Black Spot Development but Enhances Dehydration in Persea americana Mill. cv. Hass during Prolonged Storage

“…In addition, our results also coincide with research reported in New Zealand where those results showed an increase in the number of lenticel lesions when fruit was subjected to mechanical damage [12]. Lenticel damage whose etiology has not been clear established yet, has been reported to be significant in avocado, increasing during prolonged storage and affecting external quality [16,32].…”

“…Early fruit from El Rancho showed a greater weight loss in fruits that were appropriately harvested (a.m. and p.m.); however, they also presented a higher severity index of black spot, and these spots may influence the rate of transpiration as the fruits reach edible ripeness [34]. Previous studies have reported water loss in avocado to be mediated by multiple factors such as maturity stage of the fruit, management of storage conditions (temperature and relative humidity) among others [16], however, up to our knowledge, the direct effect of lenticel damage on water loss in avocado has not been reported.…”

“…Our results suggest that Hass avocado fruit harvests should be carried out under an appropriately harvesting system to control the development of lenticel damage in the fruit after harvest and during prolonged storage. Previous works have reported improper handling of the fruit not only at harvest, but during handling and storage that incurred in fruit subjected to friction may exacerbate lenticel damage [16,32].…”

“…From a commercial point of view, the results obtained in this study are relevant since an appropriately harvesting system of avocado cv. Hass in Chilean geographical conditions would not only control the incidence of lenticel damage, which is an advantage in terms of external quality [15,16] but would also control weight loss during transport to distant markets with a positive economic impact.…”

“…Past research has reported a higher incidence and severity of lenticel damage when the fruit was harvested after being in contact with water due to a higher susceptibility to cell rupture by friction [12,14]. This problem is detrimental to the appearance of the fruit at destination markets and can be an entry point for pathogens [15,16]. Research in New Zealand thus described black spots generated in the epicarp as medium to dark brown lenticel measles with regular or irregular borders that develop during cold storage [12].…”