Publications – Citriculture

Preharvest production and quality

 

Berry, T.M., Defraeye, T., Sibiya, G.M., North, J., Cronje, P.J.R. 2020. Ambient loading – increasing citrus cold chain efficiency. Acta Horticulturae, 1275, pp. 323-328.
Barry, G.H., Prins, D.M., Stander, O.P.J., Cronjé, P.J.R. 2020.Microclimate and tree physiology of ‘Nadorcott’ mandarin are affected by shade netting. Acta Horticulturae, 1268, pp. 271-278.
Berry, T.M, T. Defraeye, W. Wu, M.G. Sibiya, J. North, P.J.R. Cronje. 2021. Cooling of ambient-loaded citrus in refrigerated containers: What impacts do package and loading temperature have? Biosystems Engineering. 201:11-20.
Cronje PJR, Joubert J, Marais H, Hoffman EW, L Zacarías. 2016. Influence of late nitrogen soil applications on mandarin fruit quality. Citrus Research & Technology, v. 37, n. 1, http://dx.doi.org/10.4322/crt.ICC08.
Cronjé, P.J.R., Botes, J., Prins, D.M., Brown, R., North, J., Stander, O.P.J., Hoffman, E.W., Zacarìas, L., Barry, G.H. 2020. The influence of 20% white shade nets on fruit quality of ‘Nadorcott’ Mandarin. Acta Horticulturae, 1268, pp. 279-284.
Stander OPJ, PJR Cronjé. 2016 Reviewing the commercial potential of hand thinning in citrus with a cost-benefit analysis of summer hand thinning of ‘Nadorcott’ mandarin. HortTechnology. 26 (2): 206-212.
Stander, OPJ, Barry GH, Cronjé PJR. 2018. Fruit load limits root growth, summer vegetative shoot development, and flowering in alternate bearing ‘Nadorcott’ mandarin trees. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 143(3), 213-225.
Stander, OPJ, Barry GH, Cronjé PJR. 2017. Fruit-load-induced starch accumulation causes leaf chlorosis in “off” ‘Nadorcott’ mandarin trees. Scientia
Horticulturae. Vol 222 (19), 62-68.
Van Niekerk J., Kotze C., North J., P Cronje. 2018. Effect of phosphonate applications, for phytophthora brown rot control, on ‘Nadorcott’ mandarin external fruit quality. 28 (4), 470-475.

White, V.G., Hardie, A.G. & Raath, P.J., 2020. Relationships between commonly-used South African and international soil phosphorus extraction tests on pristine and cultivated soils. South African Journal of Plant and Soil, 37:4, 265-272, DOI: 10.1080/02571862.2020.1741708

White, V.G., Hardie, A.G. & Raath, P.J., 2021. Phosphorous fertilizer recommendations considering single-point P sorption capacity and soil P test extraction efficiency. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 53:2, 243-256, DOI:10.1080/00103624.2021.1993881

White, V.G., Raath, P.J., Hardie, A.G., van der Berg, V. & Sutton, G.F., 2023. Calculating soil titratable acidity from routine soil analyses of cultivated South African soils using various model structures. South African Journal of Plant and Soil, 40:2, 77-85, DOI:10.1080/02571862.2023.2212191
Zacarías, L., Cronje, P.J.R., Palou, L. 2020. Postharvest technology of citrus fruits. In: The Genus Citrus, pp. 421-446.

 

Rind condition and cold chain

Berry, T.M., Defraeye, T., Tsige, A.A., Coetzee, C., Opara, U.L. (2021). Exploring Novel Carton Footprints for Improved Refrigerated Containers Usage – A Conceptual Study. SSRN
Berry, T.M., Defraeye, T., Shrivastava, C., Ambaw, A., Coetzee, C., Opara, U.L. (2022). Designing ventilated packaging for the fresh produce cold chain. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 134, 121-149
Cronje PJR. Ehlers JL, Alférez F, KI Theron. 2016. Efficacy of pre-harvest sprays to reduce rind pitting on Benny Valencia orange. Citrus Research & Technology http://dx.doi.org/10.4322/crt.ICC028.
Cronje PJR, Zacarías L, F Alférez. 2017. Susceptibility to postharvest peel pitting in Citrus fruits as related to albedo thickness, water loss and phospholipase activity. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 123: (1) 77-82.
Defraeye T, B Nicolai, W Kirkman, S Moore, S van Niekerk, P Verboven, P Cronjé. 2016. Integral performance evaluation of the fresh-produce cold chain: A case study for ambient loading of citrus in refrigerated containers. Postharvest Biology and Technology 112. 1–13.
Defraeye T. Wu W. Prawiranto K, Fortunato G, Kemp S, Hartmann S, Cronje P, Verboven P, Nicolai B.2017. Artificial fruit for monitoring the thermal history of horticultural produce in the cold chain. Journal of Food Engineering. Vol 215, 51-60.
Defraeye, T., Shrivastava, C., Berry, T., Cronje, P., Rossi, R.M. 2021. Digital twins are coming: Will we need them in supply chains of fresh horticultural produce? Trends in Food Science and Technology, 2021, 109, pp. 245–25.

Hattingh, V., Moore, S., Kirkman, W., Goddard, M., Thackeray, S., Peyper, M., Sharp, G., Cronjé, P., Pringle, K., Cha, D.H. 2020. An Improved Systems Approach as a Phytosanitary Measure for Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Export Citrus Fruit from South Africa. Journal of Economic Entomology, 113 (2), pp. 700-711.
Hattingh, V, Moore,S, Kirkman, W, Goddard, G, Cronjé, P and Pringle, K. 2020. An Improved Systems Approach as a Phytosanitary Measure for Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Export Citrus Fruit From South Africa. Journal of Economic Entomology, 113(2), 700–711
Khumalo, G., Goedhals-Gerber, L.L., Cronje, P., Berry, T. (2021). The non-conformance of in-transit citrus container shipments to cold protocol markets: A systematic literature review. Food Control, 125.
Khumalo, G., Goedhals-Gerber, L.L., Cronje, P., Berry, T. (2023). Product visibility in the South African citrus cold chain: Examining the efficacy of temperature loggers. Heliyon, 9(1), e12732.
Lado, J., Alós, E., Manzi, M., Cronje, P.J.R., Gómez-Cadenas, A., Rodrigo, M.J., Zacarías, L. 2020. Light Regulation of Carotenoid Biosynthesis in the Peel of Mandarin and Sweet Orange Fruits. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, 1288.
Mostert Susan, Fernando M. Alferez, Wilma du Plooy, Paul J.R. Cronje. Effect of plant growth regulators on postharvest calyx retention of citrus fruit. Postharvest Biology and Technology 207 (2024) 112629
Niemann Johane, Eleanor W. Hoffman, Lorenzo Zacarías, Martin Kidd and Paul J. R. Cronje. Postharvest Cold-Storage Behaviour of ‘Nadorcott’ Mandarin Fruit Remains Unaffected by Preharvest Shade Netting. Horticulturae 2024, 10, 782
Onwude Daniel, Jade North, Thijs Defraeye, Paul Cronje. To what extent does pre-harvest variability affect the chilling injury susceptibility of citrus postharvest? Journal of Agriculture and Food Research 19 (2025) 101624
Shrivastava, C., Berry, T., Cronje, P., Defraeye, T. (2020). Digital twins to map the key quality attributes in fresh-produce supply chains. Refrigeration Science and Technology, 2020-August, 265-273.
Shrivastava, C., Berry, T., Cronje, P., Koenderink, N., Defraeye, T. (2025). Identifying trade-offs in trans-continental citrus supply chains and the resulting conflicting stakeholder’s incentives via physics-based, digital fruit twins. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 151, 1-10.
Wu W, Häller P, Cronjé P, Defraeye T. 2018. Full-scale experiments in forced-air precoolers for citrus fruit: Impact of packaging design and fruit size on cooling rate and heterogeneity. Biosystems Engineering. Vol: 169, 115-125.
Wu, W, Cronjé P , Verboven P, Opara L, Defraeye, T. 2018. Virtual cold chain method to model the postharvest temperature history and quality evolution of fresh fruit – A case study for citrus fruit packed in a single carton. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. Vol. 144, 199-208.
Wu, W., Beretta, C., Cronje, P., Hellweg, S., Defraeye, T. 2019. Environmental trade-offs in fresh-fruit cold chains by combining virtual cold chains with life cycle assessment. Applied Energy, 254, art. no. 113586.
Wu, W., Cronjé, P., Verboven, P., Defraeye, T. 2019.Unveiling how ventilated packaging design and cold chain scenarios affect the cooling kinetics and fruit quality for each single citrus fruit in an entire pallet. Food Packaging and Shelf Life, 21, 100369
Van Dael M, Lebotsa S, Herremans E, Verboven P, Sijbers J, Opara UL, Cronje PJR, BM Nicolaï. 2016. A segmentation and classification algorithm for online detection of internal disorders in citrus using X-ray radiographs. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 112, pp. 205-214.
Verreydt, C., Berry, T., Lukasse, L., Turan, D., Cronje, P., Defraeye, T. (2025). Revealing intra- and inter-container fruit quality heterogeneity within overseas refrigerated container shipments using a physics-based digital twin. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 19, 101715.
Zacarías, L., Cronje, P.J.R., Palou, L. 2020. Postharvest technology of citrus fruits. In: The Genus Citrus, pp. 421-446.
Zacarías-García, J., Cronje, P.J., Diretto, G., Zacarías, L., Rodrigo, M.J. 2022. A comprehensive analysis of carotenoid metabolism in two red-fleshed mutants of Navel and Valencia sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis). Frontiers in Plant Science: 13, 1034204