Postharvest quality of ‘Rocha’ pears treated with different doses of 1-methylcyclopropene

Fruit of ‘Rocha’ pear were harvested, cold-stored at 1°C for 4 days and then treated with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) at 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 or 500 nL L^-1. After treatment, fruit were packed in paper boxes lined with a low-density polyethylene film (40 µm) and stored for 40, 80 or 120 days at 1±0.5°C. After removal from storage, fruit were assessed for quality during shelf-life (5 and 10 days at 20±2°C). The dose of 1-MCP required to delay flesh firmness loss effectively was dependent on the period of fruit cold storage.
For pears cold-stored for 40, 80 and 120 days, the effective doses of 1-MCP to preserve highest flesh firmness during 10 days of shelf-life were ≥200, ≥300 and ≥400 nL L^-1, respectively.
Fruit treated with 1-MCP at doses ≥200 nL L^-1 had delayed yellowing of the skin during cold storage, after 5 or 10 days of shelf-life, with a more substantial effect for shorter cold-storage periods (40 and 80 days). Fruit treated with 1-MCP had higher values of titratable acidity (TA) and soluble solids content (SSC) and reduced incidence of decay and internal browning.
Doses of 1-MCP ≥300 and ≥100 nL L^-1 were most effective for best preservation of TA and SSC, respectively, regardless of cold-storage and shelf-life periods. 1-MCP at doses ≥100 nL L^-1 was effective in controlling decay and internal browning in fruit cold-stored for 80 and 120 days.

III Southeast Asia Symposium on Quality Management in Postharvest Systems

C.V.T. do Amarante, C.A. Steffens, L.C. Argenta, A. Scolaro

Pyrus communis L., fruit, ethylene, ripening, decay, physiological disorder

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1179.13