Alleviation of Fruit Decay During the Export and Domestic Storage of Satsuma Mandarin Fruit Through Temperature Treatment and Ultraviolet-C Irradiation via Phytoalexin Production

To prevent the decay of satsuma mandarin fruit during the distribution process, we investigated the effect of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) irradiation and temperature treatment (TT) on scoparone (a phytoalexin) production in fruits. To this end, the fruits were maintained at 20°C for 24 h following irradiation, and then the scoparone content was measured after export to Singapore by sea freight or after domestic storage. The scoparone content in the flavedo of TT fruits significantly increased for 24 h after UV-C irradiation, compared with that in the flavedo of non-TT fruits. In fruits exported in reefer containers (0°C), the scoparone content in the TT fruits was 59.1 μg·g−1FW, whereas that in non-TT fruits was 15.1 μg·g−1FW. The domestically stored fruits showed similar trends to those of the exported fruits. The scoparone content in domestically stored fruits was higher than that in the exported fruits because the storage temperature was higher than the temperature in the reefer container used for export. There was a significant difference in the decay rate between UV-C-irradiated and non-irradiated fruits. These results showed that UV-C irradiation was effective in reducing the decay of fruits exported by sea, and TT before storage induced scoparone production in the flavedo, even under cold storage.