Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of the development of chilling injury in ‘Fuyu’ persimmon (Diospyros kaki)

Abstract

Development of chilling injury in individual persimmon fruit was monitored over a 7‐week period using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging. At commercial harvest, fruit of the non‐astringent cultivar, ‘Fuyu’, were divided into two treatments—one in which samples were sealed in individual polyethylene bags, and another without bags (control). Storage conditions were 0°C for 6 weeks. Proton NMR images (0.39 mm resolution) of trans verse and longitudinal sections were obtained weekly using a standard Hahn spin‐echo pulse sequence (T_E = 30 ms, T_R = 500 ms) on a 0.5 Tesla whole‐body scanner. There was limited NMR evidence to support development of chilling injury in fruit from either treatment during cold storage. After removal to ambient temperatures however, injury developed rapidly causing fruit to be inedible within 1 week. Changes observed non‐invasively during the period of degradation were consistent with visual observations describing the development of the disorder in this crop.