Fruit quality of Granny Smith apples picked at different harvest times and treated with 1-MCP

Abstract

Introduction . Superficial scald is one of the most economically serious postharvest disorders of apples. The optimal harvest window and 1-MCP treatment significantly diminish the risk of storage scald and retain quality of apples stored in a normal atmosphere. Materials and methods . Fruits from three different harvest dates (23rd and 30th September, and 7th October 2008) were treated with 1-MCP (SmartFreshTM ) immediately after harvest, and stored in a normal atmosphere (1 ± 0.5) °C for 180 days followed by a shelf-life period of 7 days at (21 ± 1) °C. Assessments of superficial scald severity, firmness, total soluble solids and titratable acidity were recorded at days 1 and 7 after storage. Organoleptic quality assessments were made after the shelf-life period. Results . 1-MCP treatment was able to control superficial scald before and after shelf life in fruits from the last two harvest times. The highest scald values during shelf life were observed in untreated and 1-MCP-treated fruits from the earliest harvest (3.6 and 2.3, respectively). 1-MCP and early harvest time were determined to have a positive effect on retention of firmness and titratable acidity during storage. Total soluble solids was not affected by 1-MCP treatment. Combination of 1-MCP treatment and mid- or late harvest time gave the best evaluation scores for organoleptic quality. Conclusion . Our results show that 1-MCP treatments of late-harvested “Granny Smith” apples could offer satisfactory results for long-term air storage considering both the absence of superficial scald and retention of fruit quality.