EFFECT OF PACKAGING, WAXING AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE TREATMENTS ON STORAGE OF 'GOLDEN DELICIOUS' AND 'RED DELICIOUS' APPLES

This study was carried out during two successive seasons of 2007 and 2008. Fruits from two apple cultivars (‘Red Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’) grown in Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar region, Libya were used. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of some postharvest treatments including commercial packaging (shrinkable wrapping and polyethylene bags), dipping the fruits in 1% Vapor Gard wax or 1% CaCl₂ on apples stored for six months at 0°C and 80-90% RH. ‘Red Delicious’ fruit were significantly superior to ‘Golden Delicious’ in their storability as they demonstrated a slower softening rate, lower weight loss and higher contents of reducing, non-reducing and total sugars. Weight loss increased with extending storage period while fruit firmness, acidity and juice content decreased gradually. It was noticed that the TSS and sugars content increased for certain period then decreased. Polyethylene bags and Vapor Gard treatments were very efficient in reducing weight loss, followed by CaCl₂ and shrinkable wrapping respectively. Fruit softening was remarkably reduced by using shrinkable wrapping.