Chilling Injury Susceptibility of Early-season "Sai Nam Peung" Tangerine Fruit and Alteration of α-Farnesene and Conjugated Trienols during Low Temperature Storage

Susceptibility to chilling injury (CI) of early-season and mid-season "Sai Nam Peung" tangerine fruits and the involvement of conjugated trienols (CTols), an oxidative stress product of alpha-farnesene, after storage at 3 +/- 1 degrees C (90 % RH) for 3 weeks and during 12-day shelf life were studied. Changes in malondialdehyde (MDA), the lipid peroxidative product, electrolyte leakage (EL), weight loss and fruit qualities were determined. Early-season fruit developed CI symptoms such as rind pitting, oleocellosis and brown stain or surface scald during cold storage. The CI index, % EL and % weight loss (% WL) continuously increased after the fruits were removed from storage. The concentrations of MDA, alpha-farnesene and CTols between the CI rind tissue of the early-season fruit and the mid-season fruit were significantly different (p < 0.05) after storage. The susceptibility to CI of early-season tangerine fruit was more related to fruit maturity at harvest and loss of membrane integrity.