Effectiveness of a hot water dip conditioning (3 min, 53C) to prevent chilling injury was evaluated with Persian lime (Citrus latifolia Tanaka) fruits stored at 4, 8, 13 and 25C and 80% RH. Conditioning caused a significant increase in peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities and lipoperoxidation levels in the flavedo of fruits immediately after treatment. During storage enzyme activities diminished until they reached control levels. Conditioned limes kept at 25C maintained higher lipoperoxidation levels than those stored at refrigerated temperatures during all storage periods. Lipoperoxidation decreased slowly in refrigerated fruits until they reached similar levels to control fruits. Chilling injury was observed at 4 and 8C, however, it showed the highest levels in heated fruits. Therefore, conditioning by heat did not act as a protective treatment against chilling injury of Persian limes, possibly because it was not able to sustain the increased antioxidant system during the entire storage period., 27 December 2003

Induction of different antioxidant enzymes by high and low temperatures prior to storage has been reported to produce tolerance to chilling injury (CI). Thus, different prestorage temperatures have been suggested to decrease CI in citrus fruits. In this work, the effectiveness of a cold‐conditioning treatment (13C for 48 h) to prevent CI was evaluated in Mexican limes (Citrus aurantifolia S.) stored at 4, 10 and 25C, and 90% relative humidity. Cold conditioning reduced 1.6‐fold CI symptoms, induced a significant increase of 2.2‐fold peroxidase activity and maintained the activity of superoxide dismutase in limes kept at 4C. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of the cold‐conditioning treatment in increasing chilling tolerance in Mexican limes depends on the induction or maintenance of antioxidant enzymatic systems during the entire storage period.

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