Ethylene concentrations inside the packages were very low, showing maximum values at the fourth day of storage
(0.2–0.4 L L−1), decreasing for the next few days down to zero and later increasing to levels between 0 and 0.4 L L−1 after 12 d of storage (Fig. 2a). This behavior could be attributed to a temporary increase in ethylene production due to processing damages which resulted in an accumulation of this gas inside the package. Later on, ethylene production of healthy tissue of fresh-cut pineapple decreased and stayed close to zero during storage at 5 ◦C. After 12 d of storage fresh-cut fruit became older, and tissue deterioration started. As a consequence, ethylene production increased again and
with increasing accumulation inside the package throughout time. However, ethylene concentration did not exceed 1 L L−1 under any packaging conditions, suggesting that cut pineapple has low physiological activity. Similar behavior has been reported by Marrero and Kader (2006) for fresh-cut pineapple (‘Smooth Cayenne’ cultivar PRI 36-20) who observed an increased production after cutting, followed by a decrease and later increase up to 0.5 L L−1 after 10 d of storage at 7.5 ◦C. F