4.3.1. Decay Evaluation

Fruit decay was visually evaluated at days 7 and 14, after storage at 11 ◦C. All fresh produce from each container were used for the evaluation. A commodity was considered as decayed when the symptoms of mycelia or bacteria development were present. A scale from 1 to 10 showing the surface infection percentage as 1: 0–10% infection; 2: 11–20% infection; 3: 21–30% infection; 4: 31–40% infection; 5: 41–50% infection; 6: 51–60% infection; 7: 61–70% infection; 8: 71–80% infection; 9: 81–90% infection; and 10: 91–100% infection was assessed to estimate the degree of produce infection.

#### 4.3.2. Respiration Rate and Ethylene Production

The carbon dioxide (CO2) and ethylene production were assessed by placing each fruit in a 1 L plastic container sealed for 1 h, at room temperature. Each fruit was weighed and its volume was measured. Moreover, CO2 and ethylene of room air were tested and subtracted from the measurements, by equipment zeroing, prior to and during measurement. For the determination of the respiration rate, container gas atmosphere was sucked by a dual gas analyzer (GCS 250 Analyzer, International Control Analyser Ltd., Kent, UK) for 40 s and results were expressed as milliliter of CO2 per kilogram per hour (mL CO2 kg−<sup>1</sup> h<sup>−</sup>1). Ethylene was measured with an ethylene analyzer (ICA 56 Analyzer, International Control Analyser Ltd., Kent, UK) whereas the container air sample was sucked for 15 s. Results were expressed as microliter of ethylene per kilogram per h (μL ethylene kg−<sup>1</sup> h<sup>−</sup>1) (three replications per treatment and storage period; *n* = 3).
