Bell Pepper

Maturity Indices

Green Peppers: fruit size, firmness, color
Colored Peppers: minimum 50% coloration

Quality Indices

• Uniform shape, size and color typical of variety
• Firmness
• Freedom from defects such as cracks, decay, sunburn

TEMPERATURE & CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE (CA)

Optimum Temperature

Peppers should be cooled as soon as possible to reduce water loss. Peppers stored above 7.5°C (45°F) suffer more water loss and shrivel. Storage at 7.5°C (45°F) is best for maximum shelf-life (3-5 weeks); peppers can be stored at 5°C (41°F) for 2 weeks, and although this reduces water loss, chilling injury will begin to appear after that period. Symptoms of chilling injury include pitting, decay, discoloration of the seed cavity, softening without water loss. Ripe or colored peppers are less chilling sensitive than green peppers.

Optimum Relative Humidity

> 95%; firmness of peppers is directly related to water loss

Rates of Respiration

To calculate heat production multiply ml CO₂/kg·hr by 440 to get BTU/ton/ day or by 122 to get kcal/metric ton/day.

Rates of Ethylene Production

Bell peppers are nonclimacteric in behaviour and produce very low levels of ethylene: 0.1-0.2 µl/kg·hr at 10°-20°C (50°-68°F).

Responses to Ethylene

Bell Peppers respond very little to ethylene; to accelerate ripening or color change, holding partially colored peppers at warm temperatures of 20-25°C (68-77°F) with high humidity (>95%) is most effective.

Responses to Controlled Atmospheres (CA)

Peppers generally do not respond well to CA. Low O₂ atmospheres (2-5% O₂) alone have little effect on quality and high CO₂ atmospheres (>5%) can damage peppers (pitting, discoloration, softening) especially if they are stored below 10°C (50°F). Atmospheres of 3% O₂ + 5% CO₂ were more beneficial for red than green peppers stored at 5°C (41°F) to 10°C (50°F) for 3-4 weeks.