146 STORABILITY OF APPLES DAMAGED BY TUFTED APPLE BUD MOTH

Abstract

In the 1992-93 experiments tufted apple bud moth (TABM) damage generally had little effect on at-harvest maturity/quality indices of `Golden Delicious', `Delicious' or `York Imperial' apples. However, at harvest starch scores of `Golden Delicious' and the soluble solids (SS) of `York Imperial' were higher in fruit with TABM damage. Following storage however, there were little or no effects of TABM damage on firmness or SS in any of the 3 cultivars. Percent decay was 0 and 18% in `Golden Delicious' and 2 and 6% in `Delicious' for control fruit and those with the most TABM damage (> 10 mm aggregate diameter), respectively. These were significant linear relationships - R2 = 0.41 and 0.12 for `Golden Delicious' and `Delicious', respectively. Weight loss increased by 2-3 fold in the apples in the highest damage category. These results show that the post-storage quality of apples with slight TABM damage did not differ from that of undamaged fruit. Good CA atmospheres for storage of undamaged fruit were also good for storage of damaged fruit. Additional studies done in 1993-94 included experiments attempting to mimic TABM damage artificially on fruit while still on the trees. Apples with natural TABM damage were inoculated with P. expansum before storage to insure decay potential.