Abstract
To investigate the applicability of a gamma-ray irradiation for extending the storage life of fruits, measurements of pasteurizing effect, peel appearance, flesh flavor and taste, weight loss, sugar content and total acidity have been made on Satsuma mandarin and peach (Kurakata Wase) irradiated with the dose 300 krad of gamma-ray during the room- and low temperature storage.
It was confirmed that irradiation and low temperature storage combination was a very useful method to prevent Satsuma mandarin and peach from decay during the post-irradiation storage.
No marked influences of gamma-ray irradiation on the patterns of weight loss, sugar content and total acidity of Satsuma mandarin were detected, expect that off-flavor in flesh of fruits and the browning of peel were appeared during storage. However, off-flavor had a tendency to disappear after 40 day's storage at temperature 3-5°C, therefore, the gamma-ray irradiation might be applied to the long term storage of Satsuma mandarin for processing.
The appearance and taste of peach irradiated were mainatined for about one week, and the brown rot growth of fruits was markedly suppressed using the gamma-ray irradiation and the low temperature storage.
