Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the individual and combined effects of low O2 and high CO2 on chilling injury (CI) alleviation in cucumber fruit. Fruits were stored at 5°C for 5 days under 4 different gas compositions: (1) low O2; (2) low O2 with high CO2; (3) high CO2 and (4) ambient air as control. After storage at 5°C, all fruits were transferred to ambient air at 24.5°C for 6 days to evaluate the progress of CI. The weight loss of fruits stored at ambient air was higher than those stored at the controlled atmospheres. Change in skin color was suppressed in fruits stored under low O2. Increased electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde (MDA) equivalent were suppressed by storage at low O2 compared with low O2 with high CO2. These results suggested that low O2 acted as a dominant factor for alleviating CI of cucumber fruits, while, the combination with high CO2 did not induce synergistic effects, but it gave negative influences.
