Incidences of storage disorders and changes of ascorbic acid content of apple fruits during low temperature storage

Abstract

For the apple fruit storage, the effects of the maturity and storage temperature on the incidences of storage disorders such as browning, weight loss, changes of firmness, refractometer index, titratable acid and ascorbic acid content were investigated. The fruits (Starking Delicious and Jonathan) were picked at the 4 different stages of maturing and stored for 5 months at 1°C or 5°C. The storage disorders increased in proportion to the maturity for the both varieties showing more definite effects at 1°C than 5°C for Starking Delicious.After storage the ascorbic acid content and the ratio of ascorbic acid to total ascorbic acid in sound fruits of both varieties decreased, especially, these in browned fruits remarkably decreased. Therefore, it is expected that the storage length of the apple may be estimated by the ascorbic acid content and the ratio of ascorbic acid to total ascorbic acid.