3. Chilling Injury.
Symptoms
•
Eggplant fruit are chilling
sensitive at temperatures below
10°C (50°F). At 5°C (41°F) chilling
injury will occur in 6-8 days.
Consequences of chilling injury
are pitting, surface bronzing, and
browning of seeds and pulp
tissue. Accelerated decay by
Alternaria spp. is common in
chilling stressed fruit. Chilling
injury is cumulative and may be
initiated in the field prior to
harvest.
6. Special Considerations
•
Rapid cooling, primarily to reduce water loss, soon
after harvest is essential for optimal postharvest
keeping quality. The precooling endpoint is typically
10°C (50°F). Forced-air cooling is the most effective
practice. Room cooling after washing or hydrocooling is
the most common practice. Moistened paper or waxed
cartons are often used to reduce water loss. Japanese
eggplants lose water 3 times more rapidly than
American-type eggplants. Visible signs of water loss are
reduction of surface sheen, skin wrinkling, spongy
flesh, and browning of the calyx
• Symptoms
7. Boron Deficiency
• To induce B deficiency in brinjal cv. Pusa Purple, plants
were grown in refined sand at 3 levels of B, viz. acute
deficiency (0.0033 mg/litre), moderate (0.033 mg/litre)
and adequate (0.33 mg/litre). In brinjal, symptoms of
low boron at d 23–24 as interveinal chlorosis of young
leaves, chlorosis intensified later, necrotic patches
developed on them and on coalescing gave a withered
appearance to leaf. In addition, plants were short,
bushy and depressed due to condensation of
internodes. With increase in age young growth was
affected, turned necrotic and black due to
accumulation of phenols in low B. No fruits were
produced in acute deficiency
• Symptoms