PICKING TIME AND QUALITY IN APPLE STORAGE

A. Testoni, P. Eccher Zerbini
The possibility of storing apples of four varieties without postharvest treatments was verified, picking the fruit at four successive times, aiming at finding out the optimal ripening stage for ensuring the best quality without incurring storage disorders. Several parameters were analysed at harvest and after six months of C.A. storage: skin colour (background and red), internal ethylene, firmness, starch content (only at harvest), soluble solids, titratable acidity and, only after storage, modulus of deformability, percentage of fruit affected by scald and rot.

The trend of quality parameters was affected by harvest time; such an influence was observed in particular on the trend of colour in Law; of firmness in Granny Smith and Double Red; and of all parameters except firmness, in Neiplings'. Scald was very much affected by harvest time: the last-harvest data relevant to Double Red and Law showed a negligible incidence ; on the contrary, Granny Smith and Neiplings' showed very severe scald damage.

Internal ethylene was not judged a good maturity index because of a high variability thereof between fruits, and also because it was not correlated with the usual indexes.

Testoni, A. and Eccher Zerbini, P. (1989). PICKING TIME AND QUALITY IN APPLE STORAGE. Acta Hortic. 258, 445-454
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1989.258.51
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1989.258.51

Acta Horticulturae