Citrus Degreening

Many types of Citrus Fruits, including lemons, grapefruit, oranges, and tangerines, can be degreened by exposure to 1-10 ppm ethylene for 1-3 days. The temperature at which degreening should occur is in the range of 68 to 86°F (20 to 30°C).

Several of our generators can be used to manufacture ethylene in the 1 – 10 ppm range. The right machine for the job depends upon the degreening room size and how air-tight it is.

For rooms up to 25,000 ft3 / 700 m3 we recommend our Citrus Generator. For larger rooms, we recommend our Easy-Ripe Generator.

For large degreening operations with several expansive rooms requiring multiple generators, we recommend our Centralized Ripening System - CRS™.

The temperature, ethylene level and exposure time that should be used for each type of citrus and cultivar vary, so for further recommendations we suggest that you contact your local Ag extension agent, university expert, or other experienced citrus postharvest specialist. A great resource for postharvest information is The University of California at Davis or The University of Florida.

These recommendations were amassed from a diverse number of sources for use by clients of Catalytic Generators, LLC. While we have made great effort to provide accurate and current ripening techniques, Catalytic Generators makes no warranties regarding these recommendations or the applicability of such information to a particular ripening operation. Please note that we do not provide these recommendations as a replacement for technical ripening experts; if having ripening problems or starting a ripening program, we suggest that professionals be consulted.