ABSTRACT
Hot water baths and dips are the simplest way of heat treatment with a fast energy transfer, and fungal spores and latent infections present in the surface or in the rst cell layers under the fruit skin can be controlled. Postharvest dip to control decay is usually achieved with temperature over 40°C and variable exposure time. It is interesting to point out that tolerance temperature for most fruits is 50-60°C for up to 10 minutes, since higher temperatures and time would induce heat damage. The benecial effect of prestorage hot water immersion treatment to prevent rot development has been shown in numerous temperate, subtropical, and tropical fruit, vegetables, and owers. This method has a number of advantages that include relative ease of use, short treatment time, reliable monitoring of fruit and water temperatures, and the killing of skin-borne decaycausing agents (Fallik, 2004).
