Turkey natural storage facilities for lemons

Citrus production is the largest of any fruit group in the world. In 2017, this production reached 146,599,168 tons. Turkey is the second largest producer country of lemons and limes, with a total production of 4,769,726 tons in the Mediterranean region. The country has a big advantage for export into the Eastern Europe countries of Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, because of its proximity. Prof. Dr. Okan ?zkaya?(2nd picture) explains the special storage system used for some lemon varieties in Turkey in paper published by Chronica Horticulturae, the?ISHS magazine. The author is full professor at ?ukurova University, Horticulture Department, in Adana, Turkey. He completed his MSc on postharvest physiology of lemons stored in Cappadocia underground carved stores with some modifications. He explains that Citrus production, export, and trade have a very important place between the total fruit and vegetable production of Turkey. The total export quantity as well as market value of citrus is more than the total of other fresh fruit or vegetable exports. Turkey exported an average of 744,418 tons of mandarin, 634,897 tons of lemons, 448,059 tons of oranges and 194,660 tons of grapefruit , resulting in $893,614,965 US income during the 2017-2018 season. In 2017, the area of citrus production in Turkey increased by 4357 ha compared with the previous year; the total area in the country is 140,000 ha. Turkey has a semi-subtropical or Mediterranean climate and the citrus production is mostly located on the southern Mediterranean and Aegean coast regions. Lemon has the second highest export value of the citrus categories from Turkey. The export quantity and value of lemon in 2018 increased by 14% from 2017. The Cukurova region of Mersin, Adana and Hatay-Arsuz Provinces specialize in ?Meyer?, ?Interdonato?, ?Lamas?, and ?Kutdiken? lemons. The harvest date difference between early and late cultivars can be from 2-5 months in some Mediterranean countries. ?Lamas? and ?Kutdiken? can be stored for up to 6-8 months in low cost unique natural ?volcanic Tufa storage? located in Cappadocia or in conventional cold storage rooms around the Adana-Mersin Provinces. Beside the natural conditions for storage of the volcanic Tufa, these stores are installed with CO2, O2, and thermohygrometer sensors as well as an automatic ventilation system that control the desired storage conditions. The average temperature of these caves changes from 7 to 13?C, with 70-90% RH, during the December-July period. The lemon storage facility of these cave warehouses is around 100,000 to 160,000 tonnes per year and makes economically feasible to transport the lemons from the growing areas to Capadoccia caves, a distance that can reach 500 km. Postharvest practices of naturally stored lemons include drenching and individually wrapping of each fruit with waxed paper infused with additional natural compounds. Wax and natural compound impregnated papers are special materials developed during a project supported by the Turkish Promotion Group to ensure that biphenyl-free materials be used for lemon storage. The result is that Turkish lemons and their production meet high international standards in terms of quality, field practices, and traceability. The paper below is the original article of Dr. Ozkaya by courtesy of the ISHS.