An alternative low-cost storage for kiwifruit

Small storage rooms (5-20 ton capacity) for kiwifruit are constructed on a sloppy mountain side with only two side walls exposed to external environment. The room is made up of porous concrete blocks and concrete ceiling and floor. There are 1 or 2 windows to facilitate air movement and their opening is regulated periodically. Only relative humidity is kept high with a continuous low-volume water supply dripping from the side walls and moving out very slowly resulting in a constant relative humidity of around 85%. Room temperature dropped at around 5 degrees C during the winter and increased slowly to 10 degrees C in May when storage was terminated. Fruit harvested late in the season was of excellent external appearance and no shriveling around the stem end was observed after 195 days of storage. Fruit flesh partly lost its green color and became dull green During the initial 2 months in storage, flesh firmness decreased substantially but, at the end of storage, firmness was satisfactory and, after 6 days of shelf life, remained unchanged. Ethylene concentration was undetectable in the storage room and, as it was expected, water collected from the walls or the floor had the capacity to absorb ethylene reversibly.