Abstract

Chilling-sensitive fruits often produce a burst of ethylene when reconditioned at ambient temperature after cold storage. This has led some researchers to propose that chilling injury (CI) may be induced by post-chilling ethylene production. To test this hypothesis, we examined two tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) mutants, non-ripening (nor) and ripening-inhibitor (rin), that do not produce climacteric ethylene, after they were subjected to cold-storage and reconditioning. The response of the mutants differed, and was not as extreme as the parent line cv. Ailsa Craig, but both showed symptoms of chilling stress. Therefore while ethylene production may influence chilling injury, it is not essential for initiating this process in tomato cv. Ailsa Craig.

Key words: Chilling injury, tomato fruit, ripening mutants, rin, nor.