Comparison of Postharvest Quality of Three Hardy Kiwifruit Cultivars during Shelf Life and Cold Storage

This study investigated postharvest fruit quality in ‘Cheongsan’, ‘Daebo’, and ‘Daeseong’ hardykiwifruit cultivars during shelf life and cold storage. Fruits of the cultivars were harvested forcommercial maturity based on soluble solids content. The fresh weight of ‘Daebo’ at harvest wastwo times that of ‘Daeseong’ and ‘Cheongsan’. The harvested hardy kiwifruit generally showed anincrease in soluble solids content, a decrease in firmness, and deterioration of fruit quality as theyripened, regardless of the storage regime. The firmness of ‘Cheongsan’, ‘Daebo’, and ‘Daeseong’was 19.9, 20.5, and 33.9 N at harvest, respectively, and decreased to 5.0 N in ‘Cheongsan’ and‘Daebo’ after 5 days of shelf life. However, ‘Daeseong’ maintained higher firmness than ‘Cheongsan’and ‘Daebo’ over the whole storage period. After 14 days in cold storage, the firmness of ‘Cheongsan’,‘Daebo’, and ‘Daeseong’ was 10.9, 6.5, and 16.6 N, respectively, decreasing to 8.1, 3.7, and 4.0 N,respectively, after 35 days in cold storage. Stored ‘Cheongsan’ was considered unmarketable after3 days of shelf life owing to fruit softening and fungal decay. Cold storage effectively delayed theincidence of decay; however, marketability of ‘Cheongsan’ fruit decreased after 21 days in storagebecause the fruit became shriveled and pitted. The ‘Daeseong’ fruit were still considered marketablefollowing 70 days in cold storage. KCI Citation Count: 0