242 P. BISWAS ET AL.
temperature below 15◦C for 7 d impaired California-grown “Cal Ace”
tomato flavor, while Maul et al. (2000) reported that storage below
12.5◦C affected flavor of Florida-grown “BHN-189” and “Solimar” toma-
toes after just 2–4 d. Biswas et al. (2012a) reported that chilling sensitiv-
ity of Florida-grown “Soraya” was higher than for New Zealand-grown
“Cedrico” and noticed that chilling-induced rot incidence occurred at
both 2.5◦Cand6◦C for “Soraya”, whereas “Cedrico” showed decay at
only 2.5◦C. Preharvest growing conditions and/or varietal differences
could explain these differences in chilling sensitivity (Saltveit 2005).
However, some tomato cultivars did not show injury symptoms under
a temperature which normally induced CI. Efiuvwevwere and Thorne
(1988) reported that “Calypso” tomatoes grown in the UK stored at
7 ◦C for 12 d subsequently ripened to an acceptable color. When Chom-
chalow et al. (2002) stored Florida-grown “Sunny” tomatoes at 2.5◦Cfor
7 d and Biswas et al. (2010) stored New Zealand “Cedrico” tomatoes at
8 ◦C for 28 d, neither group found gross CI symptoms. Some researchers
have speculated that modern tomato cultivars have an increased resis-
tance to CI (Rugkong et al. 2010). Overall, therefore, it is probable that
not only do time and temperature combinations influence CI but other
factors such as production conditions and cultivar are also likely to have
an important influence.
Inability to ripen and uneven blotchy red coloration, unusual tex-
ture (mealiness), pitting, shrivel, and water soaking have been reported
as gross CI symptoms in tomatoes (Hobson 1987; Efiuvwevwere and
Thorne 1988; Jackman et al. 1992). Loss of aroma and flavor reflects sub-
tle chilling damage that occurs during low temperature storage and is
an important contributor to loss of quality (Maul et al. 2000). Increased
susceptibility to fungal and bacterial rots (particularlyAlternariaat the
stem scars and as numerous small spots over the fruit surface) is also
frequently reported (Thorne and Segurajauregui 1982). Chill-injured
fruit often exhibit increased rates of respiration and ethylene produc-
tion associated with abnormal metabolism (Cheng and Shewfelt 1988;
Saltveit and Morris 1990). Additionally, an increased rate of solute leak-
age in tissues is often correlated with the appearance of CI symptoms
(Saltveit 2002) and measurement of CI severity in tomato (Cabrera and
Saltveit 1990; Luengwilai et al. 2012).
A. Uneven Blotchy Coloration
Consumers often associate fruit color with flavor, safety, storage time,
nutrition, and level of satisfaction (Pedreschi et al. 2006). However, this
judgment of quality by fruit color may not necessarily be appropriate for