Cucumbers (Cucumis satious L.) packaged in perforated or sealed 31.75 pm (1.25 mil) low density polyethylene
(LDPE) bags were found to have less severe chilling injury than nonwrapped fruit in storage at 5°C and 90-95X1
relative humidity. The onset of chilling injury was also delayed by the LDPE packaging compared to the
nonpackaged control. The concentrations of CO, increased to 3% while 0, levels decreased to 16% in the sealed bags.
Fruit in the sealed bags had the least decay. The 0, and COz concentrations inside the perforated bags changed very
little from the ambient atmosphere. However, there was a marked difference in the weight loss between nonwrapped
cucumbers and fruit from perforated or sealed bags. The weight loss of nonwrapped fruit reached 9% in 18 days while
perforated and sealed samples lost less than 1% during the same period. Chilling stress induced increases in putrescine
levels in all treatments but the sealed fruit had the highest levels of putrescine. Sealed fruit and perforated fruit also
had higher content of spermidine than non-wrapped fruit. These high levels of polyamines may have contributed to
the increase of chilling tolerance in fruit from perforated and sealed packages. 0 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.