Impacts of mixed fruit loading on postharvest physiological responses and quality of horticultural produce

Postharvest supply chain of fresh produce often involves close proximity of fruit with different ethylene sensitivities. Thus, the quality of fruit sensitive to ethylene may be affected due to the exogenous ethylene, produced by other commodities. This study was conducted to assess the impacts of a mixed fruit loading and storage on the physiological and qualitative attributes of fruits. Further on, the effectiveness of ethylene removal using conventional ethylene absorbent sachets as well as an in-house developed ultraviolet light based reactor in such mixed storage was also evaluated. High ethylene producer (apples) was stored along with non-treated green bananas and unripe kiwifruit (highly sensitive to ethylene), at 15 °C for 10 days. Post-storage analysis showed that bananas and kiwifruits stored with apples had significantly elevated respiration and ethylene production rates compared to samples stored alone. Mix loading with apples resulted in a significant decline in tissue strength from 25.01 to 6.44 N for kiwifruits; and a significant increase in total soluble sugars from 2.7 to 21.09% for bananas at the end of storage. The use of ethylene absorbent as well as the reactor reduced ethylene concentration in the storage chamber and slowed down respiration rate in the fruits. However, to preserve fruit quality to a higher extent, further research into development of ethylene removal system with higher ethylene removal rate is suggested. The results obtained also highlight the need of proper separation of fresh produce (based on ethylene sensitivity) during transportation, storage and retail display.