Influence of Different Factors on Firmness and Color Evolution During the Storage of Persimmon cv. 'Rojo Brillante'

‘Rojo Brillante’ persimmons were harvested in 2 different dates, early and late, and then submitted to 1‐methylcyclopropene (1‐MCP) treatment (500 nL/L) before stored at 1 or 15 °C up to 50 or 30 d, respectively. The influence of harvest date, 1‐MCP treatment, orchard, storage time, and temperature on firmness loss and color evolution during storage of ‘Rojo Brillante’ persimmon was studied. Statistical models that allowed the prediction of these 2 quality parameters during the storage, as well as the modeling of the behavior of both of them, were also evaluated. The softening, as a consequence of chilling sensitiveness when stored at 1 °C, was more accentuated in the early harvested fruit. In storage at 15 °C, also, the firmness loss was faster in fruit harvested earlier. 1‐MCP treatment drastically reduced chilling injury (CI) symptoms at 1 °C and retarded firmness loss at 15 °C, both of these effects being dependent on harvest date. The model presented to study the firmness and color relationship offers an important tool to predict firmness from fruit color measurements.