Postharvest Biology and Technology 11 (1997) 165 – 179 Postharvest handling and losses during marketing of papaya (Carica papaya L.) Robert E. Paull a, *, Wayne Nishijima b , Marcelino Reyes a , Catherine Cavaletto c a Department of Plant Molecular Physiology, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Uniersity of Hawaii at Manoa, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA b Department of Plant Pathology, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Uniersity of Hawaii at Manoa, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA c Department of Horticulture, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Uniersity of Hawaii at Manoa, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA Received 28 May 1996; accepted 29 March 1997 Abstract Papaya fruit postharvest losses up to 75% have been reported to Hawaii shippers by mainland USA wholesalers and retailers. These losses are often blamed on decay, however, this decay can be associated with storing color-break fruit for more than 3 weeks at 10°C or lower temperatures. A number of non-pathological fruit disorders are seen in retail markets, with some confusion amongst personnel as to the cause. ‘Soft’ fruit, for example, can be caused by mechanical impact injury of ripening fruit and by fruit with low flesh calcium at harvest that can ripen at twice the normal rate. The requirements for the ripening and storage of papaya are discussed. Evaluation of postharvest losses is considered in relation to the variation and limitations in ripening and storage facilities in the current handling system. There is a need to develop methods to predict papaya fruit yield and size distribution to allow orderly marketing and to accurately sort fruit as to their internal stage of ripening. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. Keywords: Handling; Sorting; Decay; Fruit disorders; Marketing 1. Introduction Postharvest losses generally are categorized into those that occur during harvesting, market prepa- ration, storage, during transport, or at the whole- sale, retail, or consumer level. Wholesale and retail losses are sometimes referred to as shrink- age. Postharvest losses are normally due to para- sitic diseases, physiological disorders, mechanical damage, and overripe fruit (Ceponis and But- terfield, 1973). Losses at the commercial and con- * Corresponding author. Fax: +1 808 9567369; e-mail: paull@hawaii.edu 0925-5214/97/$17.00 © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII S09 5-5214(97)00028-8