Chilling injury is a physiological defect of plants and their products that results in reduced quality and loss of product utilization following exposure to low but nonfreezing temperatures. The development of chilling injury depends on the specific temperature and time of exposure.
Chilling injury is completely different to freezing injury (which results when ice crystals form in plant tissues at temperatures below their freezing point).
Chilling injury affects many fruits and vegetables. Most crops of tropical and subtropical origin are sensitive to chilling injury. Some crops of Temperate Zone origin are also susceptible.
The first unified theory to explain chilling injury was founded low temperature-induce changes in the properties of cell membranes due to changes in the physical state of membrane lipids (membrane phase change).
Others have postulated that chilling injury results from the direct effect of reduced temperatures on enzymes or the indirect effect of membrane perturbations on intrinsic enzymes.
Chilling injury is manifested in many different symptoms including loss of flavor, mealiness, flesh browning, leatheriness, and flesh bleeding. Key factors that influence the susceptibility/ tolerance to chilling injury include genetics, horticultural factors, harvest maturity, and postharvest storage practices.
Pitting, circular or irregular-shaped pits on the fruit surface, is the most common form of CI and the first chilling injury symptom in many tropical horticultural commodities.
Chilling injury
Food safety can be defined as the “the avoidance of food borne pathogens, chemical toxicants and physical hazards, but also includes issues of nutrition, food quality and education.” The focus is on “microbial, chemical or physical hazards from substances than can cause adverse consequences.”
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