THE USE OF 0.7% STORAGE OXYGEN TO ATTENUATE SCALD SYMPTOMS IN ‘DELICIOUS’ APPLES: EFFECT OF APPLE STRAIN AND HARVEST MATURITY

Scald susceptibility in ‘Delicious’ apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) was strain- dependent, negatively correlated with harvest maturity (expressed as starch index) and positively correlated with storage O2 concentration and storage duration.
Scald was severe on early-picked fruit stored in air.
Reducing O2 from 21% to 1.5% did not totally control scald.
Late pickings (starch index = 3–4) reduced scald to very low levels but the fruit were prone to watercore-induced flesh browning.
Postharvest diphenylamine (DPA; 2,000 mg.l–1) treatment reduced scald in fruit held in air or 1.5% O2 at 0°C. However, scald control was better with 0.7% O2 storage than with DPA in air or 1.5% O2 storage.
The spur strain (Starkrimson) had a higher incidence of scald than the non-spur strains (Starking and Harrold Red) irrespective of storage atmospheres.
While 0.7% O2 effectively reduced scald in Starking and Harrold Red picked over a wide range of maturity, it did not adequately reduce scald in Starkrimson after 8 months of storage.

International Symposium on Pre- and Postharvest Physiology of Pome-fruit

O.L. Lau, R. Yastremski

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1993.326.19