Abstract:

In order to estimate the thermal properties of cucumber under low temperature stress, we measured the thermal
properties of cucumber fruit stored for varying times at 2, 5, 8 and 11 ℃, respectively. The experimental results indicated
that chilling injury appeared in the cucumbers when they were stored at 2, 5 and 8 ℃, but not at 11 ℃. The mass loss of
cucumbers gradually increased during storage, while the specific heat capacity decreased due to the water loss. The inflection
point of thermal conductivity in cucumbers appeared around the storage time when its chilling injury occurred for the first
time. This study showed that there were some correlations between the changes in the thermal properties of fruit and its
biological tissue injuries.

Key words: low temperature stress, thermophysical properties, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, ice point