Abstract:To investigate the effects of various methods for maintaining freshness of Litchi chinensis Sonn. (lychee) fruit during storage, experiments were conducted on the ‘Gui Wei’ (lychee)fruit under various storage conditions, including controlled atmosphere, controlled temperature and humidity, and controlled temperature storage environment, and the effects were comparatively analyzed. The results indicated that the marketable fruit yields after a 20-day storage period using controlled atmosphere, controlled temperature and humidity, and controlled temperature were 1.00, 0.81, and 0.59, respectively. During the first 5 d of the storage period, there was no significant difference in the quality of lychee fruits among the different fresh-keeping methods employed. In the controlled temperature mode, the moisture content of the lychee pericarp rapidly decreased to 57%, and the fruit weight-loss rate quickly increased to 11.52% during storage. In controlled atmosphere and controlled temperature and humidity modes, the moisture content of the lychee pericarp decreased from 73% to 69% and 71%, respectively, while the weight loss rate increased to 2.91% and 2.05%, respectively. There was no significant difference in changes in the total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA) contents in lychee fruit with regard to the fresh-keeping method used. The shelf-life test conducted after 20 d demonstrated that the controlled atmosphere could decrease the lychee weight loss rate during the shelf life. These results provide a reference for the selection of storage and transportation methods for lychee fruit.
