EFFECT OF PREHARVEST CACL₂SPRAYS ON THE POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF ‘RAINIER’ AND ‘TOTEM’ STRAWBERRIES

Two cultivars of strawberry (‘Rainier’ and ‘Totem’) were grown under commercial production conditions by a local grower in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
When the fruit reached a light-green to pink color stage they were sprayed with either 0.4% CaCl₂ (w/v in water) or water during the ripening period.
The sprays were applied to wetness starting 10 days before harvest and repeated approximately every three days for a total of three sprays for each cultivar.
Fruit then were harvested twice, approximately six days apart, after an initial harvest by the grower.
The fruit quality at harvest was assessed for the two harvests of the two cultivars.
In addition, postharvest quality changes were monitored in air and modified atmosphere (MA) storage for fruits from the second harvest.
Preharvest foliar sprays of CaCl₂ appeared to only have a significant effect on the “at-harvest” soluble solids content in the cultivar ‘Totem’. Minor increases in soluble solids were found for ‘Rainier’. There were no effects on firmness, titratable acidity or decay.
The preharvest CaCl₂ sprays had slight, but not significant, effects on changes in firmness and soluble solids during storage.
Calcium-treated fruit appeared to be more stable in terms of firmness and soluble solids content changes in air and MA storage.
These results indicate that preharvest CaCl₂ foliar sprays have minor effects on strawberry quality and retention of quality during short-term storage. ‘Totem’ appears to respond to calcium sprays to a greater extent than does ‘Rainier’.

IV International Symposium on Mineral Nutrition of Deciduous Fruit Crops

P.M.A. Toivonen, S. Stan

shelf life, modified atmosphere storage, firmness, soluble solids, strawberry Frageria x ananassa

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.564.18