Banana, mango and pineapple are important tropical fruits in the Philippines. Papaya is rapidly becoming important because of its export potential. Of these fruits only pineapple is non-climacteric. Banana is harvested in a range of maturities depending on the handling requirements and the expected green life, but always prior to the initiation of any changes associated with ripening, in contrast to mango and papaya, in that the latter are harvested at a stage when ripening of the fruit had started and ethylene production had been initiated. The differences in the physiology of these important fruits give rise to different requirements with respect to postharvest technologies. Specifically, these fruits differ in their response to modified or controlled atmosphere (MA or CA) storage technology.
Temperature management results in an extension of marketable life in these fruits. However, prolonged holding at temperatures lower that 12.5°C may lead to chilling injury. The response to chilling conditions can be affected by a number of factors related to the fruit and postharvest environment.
The physiological characteristics of each fruit will be discussed in relation to low temperature holding and MA or CA storage.