*2.8. Respiration Rate*

A closed system method [7] was applied to measure fruit respiration using five replicates per treatment. For each replicate, two fruit of known mass were placed inside a 3 L glass jar that was air-tight sealed with a lid with a rubber septum. The jars were incubated for 4 h at 5 ◦C and 90% RH. The accumulation of CO2 inside each glass jar was monitored using an O2/CO2 gas analyser (Checkmate 3, PBI Dansensor, Denmark) and respiration rate presented as mean ± S.E. (mL CO2 kg−<sup>1</sup> <sup>h</sup><sup>−</sup>1).
