Prediction Model of Chilling Injury Combined with Quadratic-Orthogonal-Rotation-Combination Design Technique for Postharvest Cucumber Fruit during Cold Storage

Cucumber fruit is susceptible to chilling injury (CI) which results in the cellular structure damage of fruit during low temperature storage. However, visual symptoms of chilling injury may not be observed when they were taken out from low temperature. In this study, the critical value of chilling injury for postharvest cucumber fruit during low temperature storage was investigated. The thermal conductivities of cucumber fruit were determined using a specifically designed thermal conductivity probe system. Combined with the quadratic-orthogonal-rotation-combination design technique, a prediction model based on the chilling injury detection indicators from the ratio of thermal conductivity of cucumber fruit was developed and the critical value of chilling injury detection indicator was identified. Verification test was shown that the suggested prediction model was suitable to estimate safe storage temperature and safe storage time by calculating the critical value for preventing chilling injury. Furthermore, it might be beneficial to provide the potential application of method for chilling injury detection in other cold sensitive fruit.