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The fruit storability of matured oriental melons (Cucumis melo var.makura) was compared by packaging them with either a plastic wrap or ceramic films of various thickness, i.g., 20 ㎛ (CE 20), 40 ㎛ (CE 40), and 80 ㎛ (CE 80), respectively and storing either at 3 or 10℃. The loss of fresh weight was below 0.3% after 36 days of storage at 3℃ and was approximately 0.4% after 18 days of storage at 10℃ when the fruits were packaged with CE 40 or CE 80. In contrast, the fruits lost about 0.4% of initial fresh weight at 3℃ and 1% at 10℃, respectively, when packaged with CE 20 or a plastic wrap. The highest contents of carbon dioxide, ethylene, and acetaldehyde accumulated in the packages during storage were measured from CE 80 at 3℃. Carbon dioxide accumulated up to 15% and 30% at 3℃ and 10℃, respectively with CE 80. Ethylene concentration showed a constant decrease throughout the storage at 3℃ but an increase at 10℃ after 12 days of storage. The concentration of acetaldehyde did not show much difference among treatments except that it accumulated over fourfold higher in CE 80 compared to others at both 3 and 10℃. CE 40 maintained the firmness and the visual quality of fruits better than any other film treatments. The content of soluble solids and the titratable acidity were kept well both in CE 40 and CE 80. The storage life of fruits in CE 40 and CE 80 at 3℃ was 36 days, which was twice longer than that of others. The ion leakage of CE 40 and CE 80 during storage was below 15% after 35 days at 3℃ while that of CE 20 and a plastic wrap were about 30% and 40%, respectively, even after 18 days at 3℃. Therefore, we concluded from these results that oriental melons could be stored best in 40 ㎛-thick ceramic films, with prolonged storage life, well maintained fruit quality, and less chilling injury at 3℃.
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