Introduction Directory UMM :Data Elmu:jurnal:P:Postharvest Biology and Technology:Vol20.Issue3.Nov2000:

Postharvest Biology and Technology 20 2000 221 – 229 Delaying establishment of controlled atmosphere or CO 2 exposure reduces ‘Fuji’ apple CO 2 injury without excessive fruit quality loss Luiz Argenta a , Xuetong Fan b , James Mattheis c, a EPAGRI, Estacao Bom Sucesso – C.P. 591 , CEP : 89500 - 000 , Cacador, SC, Brazil b USDA, ARS ERRC, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038 , USA c USDA, ARS Tree Fruit Research Laboratory, 1104 N. Western A6enue, Wenatchee, WA 98801 , USA Received 7 January 2000; accepted 10 June 2000 Abstract Storage of ‘Fuji’ apple fruit in a high CO 2 3 kPa and low O 2 1.5 kPa controlled atmosphere CA reduced firmness and titratable acidity TA loss during long term storage. This CA environment also induced development of internal CO 2 -injury brown-heart and slowed the disappearance of watercore. The symptoms of internal CO 2 -injury were first detected 15 days after CA establishment and the severity increased during the first 4 months of CA-storage. Delaying establishment of CA conditions for 2 – 12 weeks significantly reduced the severity of CO 2 -injury. Delaying CO 2 accumulation to 3 kPa for 1 – 4 months during CA 1.5 kPa O 2 + 0.05 kPa CO 2 storage also reduced development of CO 2 -injury symptoms. Delaying CA or CO 2 accumulation resulted in lower firmness and TA compared to establishment of CA within 72 h of harvest. However, the delay treatments did result in firmness and TA that were significantly higher compared to values for fruit stored in air. The incidence and severity of senescent injuries flesh browning and core flush detected during the late period of storage were greater in air- than CA-stored fruit. The results indicate the susceptibility of ‘Fuji’ apples to CO 2 -injury is highest during the first weeks of storage after harvest. Delaying establishment of CA or exposure to elevated CO 2 after harvest may be a practical strategy to reduce CO 2 -injury while maintaining other important quality attributes at acceptable levels. © 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. Keywords : Controlled atmosphere storage; Carbon dioxide injury; Brown-heart www.elsevier.comlocatepostharvbio

1. Introduction

‘Fuji’ apples are susceptible to the physiological disorders brown-heart, flesh browning, and core flush during cold storage in regular atmosphere RA and controlled atmosphere CA Fukuda, 1984. Susceptibility of ‘Fuji’ apples to brown- Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1-509-6642280; fax: + 1- 509-6642287. E-mail address : mattheistfrl.ars.usda.gov J. Mattheis. 0925-521400 - see front matter © 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. PII: S 0 9 2 5 - 5 2 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 - 4 heart CO 2 -injury as described by Wilkinson and Fidler 1973 increases with CO 2 concentration Argenta et al., 1994; Fan et al., 1997, harvest at an advanced maturity Volz et al., 1998 and fruit size Park et al., 1997. The risk of CO 2 -injury also increases with fruit nitrogen content Meheriuk et al., 1994, low storage temperature Smock and Blanpied, 1963 and production under cool tem- perature growing conditions Lau, 1998. The an- tioxidant diphenylamine DPA prevents the development of CO 2 -injury in apples Burmeister and Dilley, 1995; Watkins et al., 1997, however, DPA is not registered for this use. As the use of postharvest chemicals on fresh fruits has received closer scrutiny in recent years, alternative non- chemical procedures for prevention of physiologi- cal disorders such as CO 2 -injury would be a useful development in apple storage technology. Alternative storage protocols may provide a means to reduce the risk of CO 2 -injury. While rapid establishment of CA Sharples and Munoz, 1974; Anderson and Abbott, 1975; Lau et al., 1983 improve post-storage quality of many apple cultivars, delaying establishment of CA or CO 2 accumulation during storage reduces the inci- dence of CO 2 injury Bramlage et al., 1977; Handwerker, 1979; Elgar et al., 1998. The inci- dence of external CO 2 -injury in ‘Bramley Seedling’ apples was also reduced when CA es- tablished by fruit respiration and by flushing was delayed for 5 and 20 days, respectively Colgan et al., 1999. Considering these previous reports, the objectives of the present study were to determine if delayed establishment of CA or CO 2 accumula- tion reduce the incidence of CO 2 injury while maintaining acceptable fruit quality of ‘Fuji’ ap- ples.

2. Materials and methods