Ethylene in the storage environment caused premature browning and shrivelling of the calyx (Fig. 1a).
Exposure to 1.0 or 0.1 ml l1 ethylene at either 0 or 5 8C reduced calyx quality compared with lower ethylene concentrations and air alone (P B/0.001). As a result, the number of days that strawberries remained acceptable was decreased by exposure to 1.0 ml l1 ethylene at 5 8C and by 1.0, 0.1 and 0.05 ml l1 ethylene at 0 8C (P B/0.0017) (Fig. 1c) Lower ethylene concentrations had no effect.
In contrast, ethylene did not affect the rate of rot development. The time taken for soft lesions to
develop on the fruit at each temperature only varied by 1 day (9/1/2), regardless of ethylene concentration (Fig. 1b).