Hot Dip Treatments Reduce Chilling Injury in Long-term Storage of ‘Valencia’ Oranges

Postharvest treatment of ‘Valencia’ oranges [ Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] with hot dips of water or water suspensions of benomyl (500 mg liter -1 ) or thiabendazole (TBZ) (1000 mg liter -1 ) greatly reduced chilling injury (CI) incidence when fruit were stored for 15 weeks at 1°C. The hot TBZ dip treatment was significantly better than the other hot dip treatments for reducing CI. Pretreatment rind injury inflicted to the fruit before cold storage slightly increased CI incidence. Chemical names used: methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole-carbamate (benomyl); 2-(4-thiazoIyl)-benzimidazole (thiabendazole).