RESEARCH ON COLD STORAGE AND TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGIES FOR GUANXI POMELO

Investigations into harvesting standards and postharvest technology for fresh pomelos are presented. Results indicate that fresh pomelos for cold storage should be harvested at around 85 to 90 percent of full ripeness to ensure the fruit will develop its characteristic aroma. Precautions must be taken by the picker whilst harvesting pomelos, such as collecting fruit by cutting the stalk horizontally and preventing bruising and crushing of the fruit. Harvested pomelos should remain at room temperature for 48 hours to achieve temperature equalization throughout the whole fruit body. A rapid pre-cooling should then be applied to ensure the fruit temperature drops below 5 degrees C within 72 hours before cold storage. Whole pomelos should be stored at 3 degrees C to 5 degrees C, with a relative humidity of 80% to 90%. When removing pomelos from the cold store, it is recommended to increase the fruit temperature by 5 degrees C to 8 degrees C per day. Pomelos that are graded, packed in corrugated casing and distributed under normal temperature conditions need to be sold within 10 days. Otherwise, refrigerated transportation is required to keep fruit at the same temperature as the cold store until it reaches market, where the temperature can be gradually increased five days ahead of sale. Through the study, it can be concluded that the commercial cold storage period of healthy pomelo fruit (no bruising or crushing) is between 150 and 210 days.