Storage Potential for `Ginger Gold' and `Nittany' Apples

Abstract

High-quality processing and fresh market cultivars are critical to the Mid-Atlantic apple industry. Dual purpose cultivars such as `Ginger Gold' and `Nittany' are of particular interest. `Ginger Gold' is an early cultivar harvested in mid to late August and is of interest to processors in the area. Early cultivars typically do not store well. The at-harvest quality is high and we have initiated studies to determine if quality of `Ginger Gold' can be maintained in storage for an acceptable length of time. Apples harvested 25 Aug. were placed in three storage atmospheres: air, 3% O2 + <2% CO2, or 0.7% O2 + 1% CO2, all at 0°C. At harvest the firmness was 85 N with soluble solids concentration (SSC) of 12.6. After 4 months of storage both CA treatments maintained firmness better than the air control treatment. SSC and decay were not different among storage treatments (SS = 13.5 and % decay = 5%–8%). Data indicate that `Ginger Gold' can be stored for some time in CA and that low-oxygen storage may be beneficial. `Nittany' apples harvested 6 Oct. were placed in 2 storage atmospheres - 3% O2 + <2% CO2 or 0.7% O2 + 1% CO2. At harvest the firmness was 85 N and the SSC was 12.7. After 6 months in storage the fruit in low O2 were firmer than in standard CA. The SSC was 14.5 and decay 6% for all samples.