Introduction. Plum cv. SantaRosa shows climacteric behaviour and grows profitably under sub-temperateconditions in India. After ripening, it has a very limited shelflife (3–4 days) in ambient conditions [(38 ± 2) °C and at (68 ± 4)%RH]. Hence, there is an urgent need to extend its marketabilityusing recent techniques. Materials and methods. Plumswere harvested at the pre-climacteric and climacteric stages ofmaturity and packed with newspaper shreds (control), KMnO4-impregnatedchalks, KMnO4-impregnated newspaper shreds or ethylene-absorbent sachets;then they were transported by road to New Delhi. The biochemicaland physiological analyses were carried out at 3-day intervals onplums stored in supermarket conditions [(20 ± 1) °C and at (90 ± 2)%RH] for 15 days. Results and discussion. Untreatedfruits had less firmness than those which were packed with ethyleneabsorbents. The activities of fruit-softening enzymes such as lipoxygenase(LOX), polygalacturonase (PG) and pectin methylesterase (PME) increasedrapidly in the control treatment in comparison with plums packed withvarious ethylene absorbents, the least being either with ethylene-absorbentsachets or with KMnO4-impregnated newspaper shreds. Plums of pre-climacteric andclimacteric maturity attained respiration and ethylene evolutionpeaks on the 9th day and 6th day, respectively. Conclusions. Theplums of pre-climacteric and climacteric stages of maturity packed withethylene-absorbent sachets showed the best results in supermarketconditions in maintaining the firmness, quality and shelf life ofplum up to the 12th day and 9th day of storage, respectively.

Introduction. Kiwifruit is a typical climacteric fruit, which grows profitably well in sub-temperate climatic conditions. The major problem with kiwifruit is that it does not ripen for about a week at room temperature but after this period there is a sudden rise in the respiration rate and fruits remain in edible condition for only a few days, giving it a very short shelf life in ambient conditions. Materials and methods. Kiwifruits were treated with different concentrations of spermine [(0.5, 1.0 and 1.5) mM] and spermidine [(1.0, 1.5 and 2.0) mM] by the immersion method; biochemical and physiological analyses were carried out, then fruit were stored in ambient conditions for 15 days. Results and discussion. Polyamine-treated fruits did not show any amount of ethylene evolution up to the 6th day of storage as compared with those of control, in which it started after the 3rd day of storage. The respiration rate was also the lowest in treated fruit. Similarly, polygalacturonase and lipoxygenase activities rose rapidly in control fruits in comparison with polyamine-treated fruits. Conclusion. The doses of spermine at 1.5 mM and spermidine at 2.0 mM showed the best results in extending the shelf life of kiwifruits when stored in ambient conditions [(22 ± 4) ◦C, RH: (65 ± 5)%].