Importance of water loss in the chilling injury of grapefruit stored at low temperature

Differences in chilling injury susceptibility of grapefruit from exterior and interior tree canopy positions were used to investigate the hypothesis that water loss is related to chilling injury symptom development during low-temperature storage. The sun-exposed surface of grapefruit from exterior canopy positions was more susceptible to chilling injury and had lower diffusive resistance than the shaded surface of the same fruit. Reducing the rate of fruit transpiration during the first week of storage by a pre-cooling treatment prior to low-temperature storage delayed, but did not eliminate, the development of chilling injury.