The influence of temperature and different initial gas concentrations on the initial respiration rate of carambola

Initial respiration rate of carambola was measured at storage temperatures of 5℃, 15℃ and 25℃under different gas composition of O2 (5%, 13%, 21%) and CO2 (0%, 5%, 13%, 20%) in this work. The results showed as below. Carambola initial respiration rate significantly increased with temperature (p<0.05) , and this influence followed an Arrhenius-type relationship. Initial O2 and CO2concentration significantly influenced initial respiration rate (p <0.05) . Initial respiration rate was increased when initial O2 concentration was increased, while initial respiration rate was decreased when initial CO2 concentration was increased. Initial respiration rate significantly decreased when the initial O2 concentration was reduced or initial CO2 concentration was increased at the higher temperatures (15 to 25℃) (p<0.05) . The influence of initial gas composition on initial respiration rate was described by Michaelis-Menten uncompetitive model and the constants of this model followed an Arrhenius-type equation, and the modeling which contained initial respiration rate, temperature and initial gas concentration was established by analysis of regression. The model was confirmed with the experimental data at 12℃, and the Pearson correlation exceeded 0.963 that showed the fair agreement between experimental data and predicted data using this model.