Effects of package material on the quality of Litchi( Litchi chinensis Sonn.)fruit during storage with controlled atmosphere

In order to investigate the effects of different package on the quality of litchi fruit during transportation or storage with controlled atmosphere( 3 ~ 6 vol% O2 at 3 ~ 5 ℃ and 85% ~ 95% RH),a test was built on the freshkeeping transportation and storage test platform with controlled atmosphere for fruits and vegetables.‘Huaizhi'litchi fruit was chosen as the test materials and packaged with picking box,Poly Ethylene( PE) package with holes and microporous membrane package,respectively.The storage with controlled atmosphere was last for 8 d and the litchi fruit in different package was sampled and tested every 2 d for weight loss rate,browning index in pericarp,marketable rate,color difference and moisture content rate in pericarp,total soluble solid( TSS) and titratable acid( TA) in pulp.By these,the comparison of the effects on the fruit during storage among different packages was done.Some results were obtained after the test. There difference between inside and outside the package was relative small when the fruit was packaged with microporous membrane package,when the outside temperature was 3~5 ℃ and relative humidity was 85% ~ 95%,the temperature inside the package was 5 ~ 6 ℃ and relative humidity was 88% ~ 90%. After 8 d storage with controlled atmosphere,the fruit weight loss rates for the fruit packaged with picking box,PE package with holes and microporous membrane package were increased from 0 to1.36%,2.73%,0.74%,respectively. PE package with holes and microporous membrane package had a better benefit on delaying the variation of browning index in pericarp and fruit marketable rate. There was no significant effects of different packages on the variation of TSS and TA in the pulp. The results of this study can provide a reference to the selection and design of the suitable package in the transportation or storage with controlledatmosphere for litchi fruit.