ABSTRACT
A delay in postharvest ripening can occur only in a climacteric fruit, such as a green banana, which ripens normally after harvest. Senescence or physiological breakdown occurs in both climacteric and nonclimacteric fruits as they age in postharvest storage, and its onset may be delayed. W. J. Bramlage and H. M. Covey reported that Bartlett pears irradiated at 100 to 400 krad were delayed in ripening by several days, but upon ripening, they developed mealy pulp texture and failed to develop the characteristic ripe flavor of the variety. The physiological factor consists of rate of ripening and onset of senescence, and the pathological factor involves storage diseases. For shelf-life extension of a climacteric fruit, the rate of ripening and/or senescence must be delayed without damaging the fruit, and for a nonclimacteric fruit, the rate of senescence must be delayed without injuring the fruit.
