A model of the effects of temperature and time on the acceptability of potted plants stored in darkness
L. M. M. Tijskens, M. Sloof, E. C. Wilkinson and W. G. van Doorn
Postharvest Biology and Technology Vol: 8 Issue: 4 Pages: 293-305
1996
บทคัดย่อ
The effects of six storage periods (1-21 days) and six constant temperatures (5-30°C) were assessed in experiments on the acceptability of twenty economically important potted plants (such as Azalea indica, Begonia × hybrida, Dendranthema grandiflora, Cyclamen persicum, Dieffenbachia `Marianne', Dracaena fragrans, Euphorbia pulcherrima, Ficus benjamina, Saint-paulia ionantha, and Yucca aloifolia). A wide range of temperatures gave optimum storage (minimum quality loss) when the plants were stored for a relatively short time, but a progressively smaller range as the products were stored longer.
The results were used to devise a model describing the effects of temperature and time on the acceptability of the potted plants by the buyer. All plants were sensitive to high temperature induced deterioration and most plants were sensitive to chilling. The apparent rate of decrease in the percentage of acceptable plants in time was therefore described as a sum of two separate reaction rates, both dependent on temperature according to Arrhenius' law. Application of nonlinear regression techniques allowed analysis of the data in their entirety using one model formulation for all species tested. Except for Euphorbia (87%) and Philodendron (88%), the explained variance (R2adj) exceeded 90% for all species and was more than 95% for eight species, which implies that the present generic approach is feasible.
The model was converted into a dynamic formulation by applying partial differentiation with respect to time. The dynamic formulation allows calculation of the effect of temperature changes during storage and transport.