Effect of Storage Conditions on Quality of Persimmon Produced Under Organic Conditions

Abstract

Cold storage of persimmon required a pretreatment with 1-MCP in order to delay chilling injury manifestation. However, the use of this ethylene inhibitor is not allowed in the case of persimmon produced under organic conditions. Thus, it is necessary to optimize the storage conditions, taking into account not only temperature and storage duration but also factors such as maturity stage at harvest and the application of the deastringency treatment. In this study, organically produced persimmons were harvested at different maturity stages throughout the season, and they were stored at low (0°C) and moderate temperature (15°C) for up to four weeks. Two different moments of application of the deastringency treatment with high CO2 concentrations were assayed (immediately after harvest or after the storage periods). Our results showed that the storage of fruit harvested with firmness values lower than 30 N was not possible due to the important softening that took place after harvest. Fruit harvested with higher firmness (30-45 N) maintained an acceptable quality for two or three weeks depending of the storage conditions. Both the storage temperature and the moment of application of CO2-deastringency treatment were observed to be decisive factors in the final quality of the fruit. Here we discuss the optimum conditions to store organic persimmons depending on the maturity stage.