Comparison Of Storibility And Quality Changes Of Three Cultivars Of Loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica Lindl.) Fruit

In this study, loquat fruits (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) of three cultivars, i.e. 'cv. Luoyangqing', 'cv. Dahongpao' and 'cv. Daoguazhong', were used as materials. Quality changes such as firmness, juice precentage, soluble sugar and acid contents, tissue browning index and carotenoids content were determined for fruit stored at 20℃ or 0℃. Comparisons were done for the changes in fruit quality, degree of chilling injury at low temperature, and fruit storability among the three cultivars.Changes in quality parameters differed greatly among ripening fruit of different cultivars stored at 20℃. Fruit of 'cv. Dahongpao' maintained better quality during storage period, while fruit of 'cv. Daoguazhong' suffered a rapid reduction in quality and became rot easily.During the 0℃ storage and later shelf life, fruit of 'cv. Dahongpao' showed the lightest chilling injury symptom and maintained better quality than 'cv. Luoyangqing' and 'cv. Daoguazhong'. Fruit of 'cv. Daoguazhong' were sensitive to low temperature, which resulted in obvious chilling injury symptom and a rapid loss in quality. Such changes became more severe after fruit were transferred to shelf life. Therefore, 'cv. Daoguazhong' showed the worst storibility in the prest study.