ref M-+ e Pia@syexial a { Kamen 7 2 Recent Research on Calcium and : Postharvest Behavior Babak Madani and Charles F. Forney CONTENTS 2.1. Introduction 22 Postharvest Disease 2.3 Physiological Disorders 2.4 Quality and Ripening of Climacteric Fruit 2.5- Quality of Nonclimacteric Fruit 2.6 Fresh Cuts 2.7. Conclusions. References. 2. INTRODUCTION rn Calcium is essential for the growth and development of plants. Calcium moves in soil mostly by mass-flow, and its uptake by plants is passive and restricted to the tips, of young roots with nonsuberized endodermal cell walls. Calcium is translocated in the xylem mostly through the transpiration stream. Calcium moves upward in the xylem by adsorption onto exchange sites and by chelation with organic acids in the xylem sap. High concentration of calcium in the xylem sap facilitates its movement to the shoot apex (Biddulph et al., 1961; Bell and Biddulph, 1963). Preharvest appli- cation of calcium can be applied to the soil or foliage. Application of calcium in the soil will not always increase the concentration of calcium in fruits or vegetables, because of the immobility of calcium inside the plant and competition for calcium among different plant parts. Also, calcium can take up to four years to move from the roots to the leaves or fruits (Jones et al., 1983; Yuen, 1994). Calcium can also be applied as a foliar spray or by postharvest application to the produce. When calcium is applied to fruit, it enters through trichomes, stomata, and lenticels (Scott and Wills, 1975; Glenn et al., 1985). Calcium uptake into leaves also depends on stomata channels. Transportation of calcium to nonvascular flesh tissue is by dif- fusion through the apoplast. Stomata density also can influence calcium uptake by fruits or leaves (Harker et al., 1989), In the European Union, there are many com- mercial foliar fertilizers containing various forms of calcium, but their efficiency Escaneado con CamscannerAdvances in Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Technology of uptake as a preharvest spray is seldom more efficient than calcium chloride or nitrate (Wéjcik and Szwonek, 2002). Postharvest application of calcium to fruits and vegetables is generally accom- plished by dipping in solutions that primarily utilize calcium chloride, but lactate, propionate, gluconate, and nitrate salts have also been reported to be effective. ‘Vacuum infiltration enhances the penetration of calcium solutions into cells through the pressure generated after release of the partial vacuum and has been shown to be + very effective in modifying postharvest changes in a range of produce (Scott and Wills, 1975, 1977a,b, 1979; Wills and Scott, 1980; Tirmazi and Wills, 1981; Wills and Tirmazi, 1982; Wills et al., 1982, 1988a,b; Wills and Sirivatanapa, 1988; Martin- Diana et al., 2007). 2.2 POSTHARVEST DISEASES Economic losses caused by postharvest pathogens have resulted in the development of a range of cultural, physical, and chemical treatments to control postharvest dis- eases. The application of synthetic fungicides has been a major treatment for control- ling many diseases, but use of any compound for an extended time invariably leads to an increase in fungicide-resistant fungal strains. In addition, potential fungicide residues on fruit can be an issue for consumers. These concerns have encouraged the development of safer approaches to disease management. The application of calcium is an alternative to the use of fungicides. Calcium has been shown to reduce disease in crops by inhibiting spore germination and stimulat- ing host resistance. Calcium also acts by stabilizing cell walls to make them more resistant to harmful enzymes released by fungi (Sams and Conway, 1984; Wisniewski etal., 1995; Biggs, 1999). In addition, the calcium ion inhibits the action of ethylene ‘on cell membranes and thereby inhibits the onset of senescence (Torre et al., 1999). High concentrations of cytosolic calcium have been shown to enhance the synthesis of phytoalexins and phenolic compounds that decrease the activity of pathogenic pectolytic enzymes (Miceli et al., 1999). In this section, we focus on the effect of calcium on anthracnose (Colletotrichum spp), brown rot (Monilinia fructicola (G. Wint.) Honey), gray mold (Botrytis cine- rea), green mold (Penicillium digitarum), and sour rot (Geotrichum citriauranti).. Anthracnose is a postharvest disease that affects a range of fruits, including Papaya, banana, dragonfruit, and strawberry (Chau and Alvarez, 1983; Kim et al., 1992; Ghani et al., 2011). In papaya, the effect of pre- and postharvest calcium has been studied by Madani et al. (2014a) who reported that 1.5% and 2% calcium chlo- ride significantly reduced anthracnose incidence and severity during five weeks of storage while Mahmud et al. (2008) found that the lowest incidence of anthracnose was obtained in fruit infiltrated with 2.5% calcium chloride. Awang et al. (2011) further reported that postharvest dipping of dragonfruit in 1-4 g/L calcium chloride did not have significant effect on the incidence of anthracnose but the size of lesions was reduced with increasing'calcium concentrations. On the other hand, Ghani et al. (2011) indicated that preharvest 1%-4% calcium chloride dips reduced the severity of anthracnose disease in dragonfruit. Chillet et al. (2000) showed that the suscepti- bility of the banana fruit to anthracnose was lower in fruit with higher calcium levels. Escaneado con CamscannerRecent Research on Calcium and Postharvest Behavior 2 However, Nam et al. (2006) did not find any effect of 1-6 mM calcium in the nutrient solution used for growing strawberry plants on the severity of anthracnose. Brown rot affects most commercially grown Prunus spp. and can result in exten- sive crop losses (Adaskaveg et al., 2008). Early studies showed that the application of calcium chloride did not reduce the incidence of postharvest brown rot in peaches (Conway, 1987). However the use of calcium chloride as a foliar spray applied up to six times was shown to increase fruit Ca concentration and reduce the occurrence of brown rot (Manganaris et al., 2005; Elmer et al., 2007). In New Zealand, foliar sprays of calcium have been widely adopted by stonefruit growers as a practical tool; to reduce brown rot. Biggs et al. (1997) tested the effects of several calcium salts on the in vitro growth of Monilinia fructicola and found that calcium propionate strongly inhibited fungal growth. Gray mold rots can cause severe postharvest losses in grapes and strawberry fruit (Bulger et al., 1987; Wilcox and Seem, 1994; de Kock and Holz, 1994; Hernandez- Munoz et al., 2006). Spraying calcium chloride 2-3 times before veraison, increased the Ca concentration of grape berries and reduced rot caused by gray mold (Amiri etal., 2009; Ciccarese et al., 2013). Singh et al. (2007) also showed that spraying cal- cium on strawberry could decrease gray mold. The lower incidence of rot might be due to calcium slowing the senescence processes in many fruit, including strawberry (Ferguson, 1984; Poovaiah, 1986; Sharma et al., 2006). Wéjcik and Lewandowski (2003) and Naradisom et al. (2006) have also reported that the fruit receiving calcium is much firmer and less affected by gray mold. Similarly, Lara et al. (2004) reported a lower incidence of gray mold in strawberry after postharvest calcium dipping. Green mold (Penicillium digitatum) and sour rot (Geotrichum citriauranti) are the most economically important postharvest diseases of citrus in the arid fruit- growing regions of the world (Powell, 1908; Eckert and Brown, 1986). Smilanick and Sorenson (2001) indicated that incidence of green mold was greatly reduced by dipping lemons or oranges in a 40°C liquid lime-sulfur solution that contained 0.75% (w/v) calcium polysulfide. The incidence of sour rot was also reduced by this treatment. Efficiency was higher on lemons than oranges, and on green- com- pared to yellow-lemons. Youssef et al. (2012) reported that the efficiency of pre- harvest sprays of calcium chloride and calcium chelate against postharvest green and blue mold on “Comune” clementine and “Valencia late” orange fruit were greater than using a postharvest dip. They concluded that field application of cal- cium should be included in an integrated approach for controlling postharvest diseases of citrus fruit. 2.3 PHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDERS Physiological disorders involve the breakdown of plant tissue that is not directly caused by pests and diseases or by mechanical damage. They may develop in response to var- ious pre- and postharvest conditions, including nutrient accumulation during organ development or low temperature stresses during storage (Wills et al., 2007). Several disorders have been associated with calcium deficiency, which include blossom end rot (BER) in tomato, glassiness in melon, bitter pit in apple, cracking in cherry, and chilling injury of various commodities in storage (Wills et al., 2007). Escaneado con CamscannerAdvances in Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Technology Bitter pit (BP) is a major problem for an apple industry, especially where grow- ing conditions are dry. Application of calcium either pre- or postharvest has been known for many years to reduce the susceptibility of apples to develop BP (Shear, 1975; Wills et al., 1976; Scott and Wills, 1977b, 1979; Ferguson and Watkins, 1989; Conway et al., 1991, 1994; Fallahi et al., 1997; Ferguson et al., 1999; Blanco et al., 2010). In some recent studies, Benavides et al. (2001) showed that the greatest increase in calcium concentration in apples was achieved when calcium was sprayed six times at 15-day intervals, from 60 days after full bloom, while Létze and Theron (2007) showed that application of foliar calcium during midseason (40 days after full bloom) was shown to be more effective in increasing fruit calcium and reducing BP than a later application. Neilsen et al. (2005) showed that sprays of calcium chloride in the early growing season were as effective as in the late season for reducing BP, in spite of low calcium concentration in the harvested fruit. The reason for this effectis. unclear. Blanco et al. (2010) showed that spraying the apple trees with calcium chlo- ride or calcium propionate in combination with carboxymethyl ether of cellulose can favor the distribution of calcium into the apple fruit and help to reduce the incidence of calcium-related disorders during cold storage. Internal browning (IB) is a low-temperature disorder affecting a number of fruits with the browning of the flesh tissue occurring after removal from cool storage to room temperature (Teisson et al., 1979; Smith, 1983; Paull and Rohrbach, 1985). Youryon et al. (2013) mentioned that calcium infiltration of pineapple via the pedun- cle for three days increased calcium concentrations in the core and adjacent flesh tissue and reduced IB in “Trad-Srithong” pineapples stored at 13°C. Wéjcik (2012) showed that six sprays of calcium chloride on pear fruit—from six weeks after full bloom to two weeks before harvest—resulted in firmer and greener fruits that were less sensitive to IB after storage. Manganaris et al. (2007) found that dipping peach in calcium chloride for 5 min decreased flesh browning after storage at 5°C. Cracking in sweet cherries and litchi, caused by rainfall shortly before harvest, limits the production of sweet cherry in many parts of the world (Sekse, 1998; Huang, 2005). Many studies have examined the potential to reduce cracking in cherry fruit by spray-application of calcium compounds such as calcium chloride, hydroxide, and nitrate (Callan, 1986; Meheriuk et al,, 1991; Yamamoto et al., 1992; Rupert et al., 1997; Marshall and Weaver, 1999). Erogul (2014) sprayed sweet cherry trees with calcium nitrate, chloride, caseinate and hydroxide 30, 20, and 10 days before har- vest, and showed the most effective applications to decrease cracking were calcium hydroxide and calcium chloride. However, Huang et al. (2008) found that spraying with calcium chloride three times did not decrease cracking in litchi. Itis widely accepted that BER of tomato is caused by a combination or sequence of environmental and physiological factors related to calcium uptake and transport within the plant, which affect the fruit’s growth rate and/or size (Ho and White, 2005). The majority of studies identify a local calcium deficiency in distal fruit tis- sue during the period of rapid cell expansion (7-21 days after anthesis), when cal- cium demand exceeds supply, as the primary cause of BER (Bradfield and Guttridge, 1984; Adams and Ho, 1993; Ho and White, 2005). Additional application of cal- cium is commonly considered as a preventive measure to overcome local calejum deficiency in tomato (Wada et al., 1996; Ho, 1999; Schmitz-Eiberger et al., 2002). Escaneado oon CamScannerRecent Research on Calcium and Postharvest Behavior 23 Liebisch et al. (2009) showed that spraying tomato plants with calcium chloride and boric acid decreased BER, but increased cracking in the fruit. They concluded that since sprays are costly, labor-intensive, and did not reduce the proportion of nonmar- ketable fruit, the selection of cultivars, not susceptible to BER and cracking is more effective than sprays, when conditions favor these disorders. This is particularly rue for protected cultivation in central Thailand, However, Saure (2014) suggested that the actual causes of BER are the effects of abiotic stress (such as salinity, drought, high-light intensity, heat, and ammonia nutrition) resulting in an increase of reac- tive oxygen species, high oxidative stress, and, finally, cell death. Cell death results . in a disintegration of the plasma membrane and tonoplast and a breakdown of the endoplasmic reticulum, thus not following but preceding ion leakage, including Ca** leakage, and loss of turgor. With this approach, a better understanding and a more efficient control of BER in tomato and pepper fruit is envisaged. Glassiness is a disorder in which the melon flesh appears water-soaked; this has been related to low calcium concentration in fruit tissue (Lester and Grusak, 1999, 2001; Madrid et al., 2004), Serrano et al. (2002) confirmed that this disorder is related to calcium deficiency by decreasing calcium in the nutrient solution, which caused a more rapid onset of softening of the fruit and increasing glassiness. 2.4 QUALITY AND RIPENING OF CLIMACTERIC FRUIT In climacteric fruit, ripening is accompanied by a rise in respiration rate and ethyl- ene production (Wills et al., 2007). It has been proposed that calcium delays ethyl- ene production by preventing solubilization of calcium binding sites in cell walls, which activates the ethylene generation system located in the cell-wall plasma mem- brane complex (Mattoo and Lieberman, 1997). Wang et al. (2006) found that the expression of LeACOI gene (felated to changing ACC to ethylene) was inhibited with calcium application in never-ripe mutant and wild-type tomatoes at the green stage. Calcium also decreases the respiration rate in climacteric fruit by regulation of membrane fluxes of initiator molecules like phosphate or respiratory substrates like malate (Ferguson, 1984). Phosphate flux changes across the tonoplast and plas- malemma have been associated with an onset of the climacteric respiratory rise. It is suggested that the increased tonoplast and plasmalemma fluxes of phosphate and increased cytoplasmic phosphate may be critical for climacteric respiration (Woodow and Rowan, 1979). The tonoplast and plasmalemma could be the pos- sible site for calcium to regulate phosphate. Other substrates such as malate, which, through decarboxylation, may be a source for CO, in the climacteric phase, may be regulated by calcium in terms of compartmentation between vacuole and cytoplasm and, thus, decrease the respiration rate (Ferguson, 1984). This section will discuss recent findings on the role of calcium in the postharvest quality of selected pome fruits (apple and pear), stone fruits (plum and peach), tropi- cal fruit (papaya), small fruit (blueberry), and tomato and melon. In apples, the effects of pre- and postharvest calcium in postharvest quality were evaluated in many early studies (Wills, 1972; Mason, 1976; Scott and Wills, 19774; Tirmazi and Wills, 1981; Sams and Conway, 1984). More recently, Kadir (2005) showed that spraying apple trees six times with calcium chloride improved Escaneado con CamscannerAdvances in Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Technology “Jonathan” apple quality in terms of fruit weight, size, appearance, and color, but had no effect on soluble solids content. Similar findings were noted by Wéjcik and Borowik (2013), who found that apples sprayed with a range of calcium compounds had higher titratable acidity and were firmer, but did not differ in soluble solids. Val et al. (2008) found that 1% calcium chloride sprays had no effect on the concentra- tion of calcium in the flesh of “Fuji” apples and no effect on fruit quality traits; Wo et al. (2012) showed that postharvest calcium dipping of “Fuji” with 0.5% calcium chloride was effective in maintaining the firmness of cut-apple products and intact fruit. Similarly, Zheng et al. (2014) reported a 2% calcium chloride dip on intact “Fuji” maintained firmness and improved surface color and titratable acidity of cut apple fruit. Hussain et al. (2012) showed that “Red Delicious” apple fruit dipped with 2% calcium chloride and then irradiated with 0.4 kGy gamma radiation had higher ascorbic acid levels and extended shelf-life. Ortiz et al. (2010) showed that most of the compounds that contribute to flavor in ripe apple were improved in response to a postharvest calcium chloride dip. For example, they showed that the release of acetate esters was favored, and acetaldehyde content was enhanced, in apple fruit treated with calcium (Ortiz et al., 2010). They further suggested that this technique may be an appropriate method to improve the fruit’s aroma where these effects were from an increase in pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase activities in the presence of calcium. Ortiz et al. (2011) indicated that preharvest calcium sprays enhanced most of the compounds contributing to overall flavor in ripe fruit, suggest- ing that this procedure may be suitable for improving the fruit's aroma at harvest. The positive effects of calcium in enhancing postharvest quality of pear have confirmed earlier studies by Wills et al. (1982), Raese and Drake (1993, 1995) and Raese et al. (1999): Wojcik et al. (2014) examined the impacts of autumn sprays of calcium as a supplement to summer-time calcium sprays on “Conference” pear quial- ity and storability. They found that the greatest increase in calcium status was in fruit treated with calcium in the summer and in the fall. After storage, pears sprayed with calcium in the summer and in the fall produced less ethylene, had lower res- piration, contained more organic acids and were firmer (Wojcik et al., 2014). They > concluded that calcium chloride at 20 or 25 kg/ha should be used in “Conference” pear orchards as a supplement to summer-time calcium sprays to improve fruit stor- ability. Mahajan and Dhatt (2004) studied the effects of different dip concentrations of calcium chloride and showed that application of 4% calcium chloride was the most effective treatment in reducing the weight-loss of pear and in maintaining the firm- ness and quality of fruits up to 75 days in storage at 0-1°C. In plum, the beneficial effects of calcium treatment—in terms of prolonging storability, delaying the ripening process and maintaining fruit quality—has been reported by Valero et al. (2002). Serrano et al. (2004) studied the role of posthar- vest treatments with calcium or heat on reducing mechanical damage during stor- age. They showed that 1 mM calcium chloride dips or hot-water dips at 45°C for 10 min led to a reduction of mechanical damage, and in turn alleviated the physi- ‘ological responses that occurred in mechanically damaged plums. Alcaraz-Lopez et al. (2003) studied the combined effects of foliar applications of Ca, Mg, and Ti on the calcium nutrition and fruit quality of plum and found that titanium application increased the calcjum concentrations in the fruit’s peel and flesh. Escaneado con CamscannerRecent Research on Calcium and Postharvest Behavior 25 Recent studies on calcium in peach have confirmed earlier reports by Abdalla and Childers (1973) and Wills and Mahendra (1990). Research on peach in the eastern USA showed that calcium sprays were effective, while, in western USA, these treat- ments did not increase the fruit’s calcium content, Thus, growing conditions and cultivar determine calcium absorption into fruit (Johnson et al., 1998; Crisosto et al., 2000). Manganaris et al. (2005) found that preharvest calcium sprays increased cal- cium in peach, but did not change acidity, soluble solids, and ethylene production after harvest. Manganaris et al. (2007) found that peach dipped in calcium lactate, propionate, and chloride solutions, maintained firmness during storage. Gupta et al. (2011) showed that peach dipped in calcium chloride had reduced weight-loss and maintained firmness, acidity, and vitamin A content during storage. Mahmud et al. (2008) studied the effect of dipping or infiltration with calcium chloride on the postharvest quality of papaya and found that vacuum infiltration was more effective than dipping at ambient pressure for maintaining quality of papaya “cv. Eksotika II.” However, Qiu et al. (1995) demonstrated that spraying or dipping papaya (“cv. Kapoho Solo”) in calcium chloride did not increase calcium concen- tation in the fruit's mesocarp. In contrast, Madani et al. (2014b) concluded that the foliar sprays of papaya (“cv. Eksotika II”) with calcium chloride resulted in an increased calcium concentration in its peel and pulp tissues, firmness, and titratable acidity and overall fruit quality, but reduced respiration rate, ethylene production, and soluble solids concentrations. A factor limiting the postharvest life of blueberries is excessive softening (Lambert, 1990) and this has been shown to be positively affected by dipping in calcium chloride (Hanson et al., 1993). Stuckrath et al. (2008) studied the effect of foliar application of calcium under three different growing conditions (tunnel, mesh, and ambient) and found that the fruit’s firmness was higher at the begin- ning of the cell-expansion period in the tunnel-grown fruit and a linear correlation between calcium concentration and firmness was established. Angeletti et al. (2010) evaluated the effect of calcium fertilization of “O'Neal” and “Bluecrop” blueberry on quality during storage and showed that calcium-treated fruit for both varieties had less softening and weight-loss compared with fruit without calcium fertiliza- tion. Angeletti et al. (2010) also showed that although the respiration rate increased during storage, this was lower in calcium-treated blueberries. They also showed that the calcium treatments did not alter hemicellulose content, but, in some cases, reduced solubilization of pectic polymers (Angeletti et al., 2010). Cut melon is prone to softening during storage, even under modified atmosphere packaging; calcium has been shown to decrease softening (Madrid et al., 2004). Moreover, Saftner et al. (2003) showed that honeydew fruit dipped in calcium pro- pionate, calcium amino acid chelate formulation, or calcium chloride, decreased respiration and ethylene production during storage. However, Aguayo et al. (2008) demonstrated that cut melon dipped in calcium chloride at 60°C maintained firm- ness during eight days of storage and Luna-Guzmén and Barret (2000) found that cut cantaloupe dipped in calcium lactate had firmer tissue without bitterness. Johnstone et al. (2008) found fertigation with calcium chloride had no effect on quality or calcium concentration of Californian honeydew or muskmelon, probably due to the physiological limitation of calcium movement into the fruit tissue. However. Escaneado con Camscanner26 Advances in Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Technology Lester and Grusak (2004) reported that foliar application of calcium metalosate—or “Folical”—increased the honeydew fruit’s calcium and storage life, but did not affect netted cantaloupe. Early research on calcium and postharvest quality of tomato was reported by Wills et al. (197), Wills and Rigney (1979), Wills and Tirmazi (1979), Rigney and Wills (1981), Minamide and Ho (1993), and Paiva et al. (1998). A recent study by Senevirathna and Daundasekera (2010) on mature-turning tomato fruit dipped in calcium chloride at ambient and partial pressure, found vacuum infiltration to be the most effective treatment with respect to shelf-life extension and reduced ethylene production. Coolong et al. (2014) further found that foliar application of calcium chloride increased fruit soluble solids content and dry weight, but did not affect texture while weight loss during storage increased. Dong et al. (2004) found that cal- cium chloride sprayed during anthesis and on one and three-week old fruit improved vitamin C content and reduced titratable acidity of the fruit. 2.5 QUALITY OF NONCLIMACTERIC FRUIT The effects of calcium on the postharvest quality of the nonclimateric fruits such as cherry, pomegranate, grape, and strawberry with emphasis on recent findings will be discussed in this section. Studies on the effects of preharvest calcium on quality parameters in cherries during storage are relatively limited (Lidster et al., 1979). Tsantili et al. (2007) inves- tigated effects of preharvest sprays of calcium chloride on the quality of “Vogue” cherries during storage and found calcium-treated fruit had greater firmness, lower soluble pectin content, and greater resistance to stem removal, but did not affect res- piration and showed only slight effects on reducing ethylene production. Wang et al. (2014) futher showed that a postharvest calcium chloride dip treatment reduced the fruit’s respiration and ethylene production rates. Ramezanian et al. (2009) examined the effect of calcium on pomegranate quality and showed that preharvest calcium chloride sprays at full bloom and one month later increased fruit weight, soluble solids content, and ascorbic acid in the aril. Kazemi et al. (2013) showed that postharvest dipping in calcium chloride and found better retention of firmness, vitamin C, and titratable acidity. Ramezanian et al.” (2010) further showed that pomegranate dipped in calcium chloride or infiltrated with calcium chloride and spermidine exhibited reduced weight loss and increased ascorbic acid. As a consequence of early research on calcium in grapes (Schaller et al., 1992), calcium chloride is now commonly applied to grapes in Italy and is reported to decrease decay and delay senescence (Romanazzi et al., 2012). Ciccarese et al. (2013) studied the effect of spraying calcium EDTA before and after veraison and showed that the fruit maintained berry firmness. The applications were particularly efficacious if carried out between fruit set and veraison when stomata are functional and calcium was better adsorbed. Marzouk and Kassem (2011) showed that vines sprayed with calcium chloride during fruit development until harvest had higher firmness and improved quality after harvest. Amiri et al. (2009) examined cal- cium chloride sprays from fruit set until veraison and showed that grape quality Escaneado con CamscannerRecent Research on Calcium and Postharvest Behavior 27 parameters such as juice pH, soluble solids, and titratable acidity were not affected, whereas berry firmness, berry color, and appearance improved at harvest. However, contradictory results were shown by Bonomelli and Rafael (2010) who found foliar and soil application of calcium chloride before veraison had no influence on calcium and sugar concentration in fruit. Strawberry shelf-life is limited mostly due to susceptibility to fungus disease. Singh et al. (2007) studied effects of preharvest foliar application of calcium and boron on fruit yield and quality-of “Chandler” strawberry. They found no effect on individual berry weight, but marketable fruit yield increased and was highest in plants sprayed with calcium plus boron, Calcium-treated fruits were firmer, had lower soluble solids, and higher acidity and ascorbic acid at harvest (Singh et al., 2007). Figueroa et al. (2012) further evaluated the effect of calcium chloride dip- ping and/or naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 45°C and found lower soluble sol- ids in calcium and NAA treated fruits during cold storage, suggesting that these compounds could alter the normal breakdown of cell-wall polysaccharides during postharvest. After storage, calcium chloride in combination with NAA produced a reduction in the transcriptional level of polygalacturonase, pectate lyase, and EG1 genes. Figueroa et al. (2012) concluded that calcium and auxin could individually alter fruit ripening, preventing the normal degradation of cell walls during cold storage, while the combination of calcium and NAA reduced the transcript level of cell-wall degrading genes after cold storage, albeit no differences in firmness were recorded. Hernandez-Munoz et al. (2006) studied the effect of postharvest calcium gluconate and chitosan coatings on quality of strawberry fruit and showed that the calcium dips were effective in maintaining firmness, while chitosan coatings mark- edly slowed ripening as shown by their retention of firmness and delayed changes in their external color. Whilst addition of calcium gluconate to the chitosan coating formulation did not further extend the shelf-life of the fruit, the amount of calcium retained by strawberries was greater than that obtained with calcium dips alone (Hernandez-Munoz et al., 2006). 2.6 FRESH CUTS In recent years, the demand for fresh-cut products has increased as a consequence of changes in consumer attitudes (Martin-Diana et al., 2007). However consumers have the expectation that processing and storage of fresh-cut products will not alter the sensory properties. While freshness is the main consumer concern on product quality, subsequent purchases depend upon the satisfaction with texture (Kays, 1999; Beaulieu and Baldwin, 2002; Kader, 2002; Ngamchuachit et al., 2014). Toivonen and Brummell (2008) reported that flesh firmness is a major textural property of mouth-feel and calcium treatments have been shown to be effective at maintaining firmness during storage in many fresh-cut fruits. Endogenous and added calcium can make plant tissue firmer by binding to the pectin carboxyl groups that are gener- ated through the action of pectin methylesterase (PME) (Conway and Sams, 1983; Stanley et al., 1995). Calcium ions can passively diffuse within the cell-wall structure because plantcell wall porosity is approximately 3.5-9.2 nm (Read and Bacic, 1996), while calcium Escaneado con CamscannerAdvances in Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Technology ions are about 0.1 nm (Gillard, 1969). When fruit parenchyma cells are dipped in a calcium salt solution, calcium ions are primarily transported through the apoplast, or intercellular spaces, where they are attracted by negatively charged carboxyl groups in the homogalacturonan that constitutes pectin in the middle lamella and cell wall. The negatively charged chloride or lactate ions remain unbound in solution (Harker and Ferguson, 1988; Hasegawa, 2006). There are several ways that calcium could be applied to fresh-cut fruits such as in conjunction with packaging in low oxygen, osmotic dehydration, adding to hot water or with irradiation. The combination of a calcium chloride treatment and packaging with a low O, concentration was shown to be more effective than the use of calcium chloride alone to maintain firmness of fresh-cut “Piel de Sapo” melons (Oms-Oliu et al., 2010) and “Golden Delicious” apples (Soliva-Fortuny and Martin-Belloso, 2003). Quiles et al. (2004) observed that calcium chloride maintained the structure of “Granny Smith” apples during the process of osmotic dehydration. (Rico et al., 2007) further showed that warm treat- ment temperatures (40-60°C) increase the beneficial effects of calcium treatment due to higher washing solution retention inside the product. Melon pieces dipped at 60°C in calcium chloride, lactate, or ascorbate showed good firmness retention (Silveira et al., 2011) as did kiwi fruit dipped in calcium chloride at 45°C (Beirao- da-Costa et al., 2008). The primary benefit of irradiation was found to be reducing microbial growth and delaying ripening of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables although irradiation can cause undesirable textural changes. Prakash et al. (2002) showed that irradiation substantially decreased the firmness of fresh-cut tomatoes. Magee et al. (2003) reported that dipping tomato discs in either calcium chloride or calcium lac- tate solution and exposed to irradiation at 1.25 kGy increased the levels of calcium and firmness. While Fan et al. (2005) found apple slices treated with calcium ascor- bate followed by irradiation at 0.5:and 1.0 kGy decreased softening and increased firmness during storage. In fresh-cut pear cubes, Alandes et al. (2009) showed that dipping in calcium lactate strengthened the structure of the fruit at microscopic level by maintaining the fibrillar packing in the cell walls and the cell-to-cell contacts. Ngamchuachit et al. (2014) also showed that mango cubes that had been dipped in- calcium chloride and lactate were firmer during storage. 2.7 CONCLUSIONS The application of calcium is a simple and safe technology which has been known for many years to improve the postharvest performance of a range of fruit and veg- etables. However, due to increasing consumer trends to minimize the use of synthetic compounds in foods, calcium treatments are receiving more attention. An important area of potential application is in reducing microbial growth. However, further stud- ies are needed to investigate the effects of calcium in reducing bacteria or other fungi, When calcium is used at an appropriate dosage and timing, it has been shown to improve product quality and enhance the nutritional value of a range of intact and fresh-cut produce. Further studies are needed to optimize the uptake of calcium by managing the form of added calcium and application method. In particular, more research is required on the effects of calcium in vegetables. Escaneado oon CamScanner