INFLUENCE OF CROP LOAD AND PRODUCTION SITE ON QUALITY OF ´GOLDEN DELICIOUS´ APPLES DURING STORAGE

From September 2002 to May 2003 the evolution of chemical and physical parameters, together with the aromatic profile and the antioxidants in Golden Delicious apples have been monitored in controlled atmosphere (C.A.). The measurements were carried out on apples from trees grown in different sites of Non valley at altitudes varying from 400 to 900 m above sea-level (a.s.l.), with yields ranging from 40 to 110 tons per hectare.
During 8 months of storage the chemical-physical parameters have changed without significant differences among crop loads.
Fruit firmness and total acidity strongly diminished during storage with higher losses in the first 5 months, especially in the high growing sites.
Soluble solids were neither affected by crop load nor by site.
Storage improved healthful features of apples in terms of antioxidants amount.
Also the extractable polyphenols and ascorbic acid increased after storage, especially in the elevated sites and in moderately cropping trees.
The aromatic compounds released by fruits (esters, alcohols, aldehydes), non disruptively measured in real time by means of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS), turned out to be related to crop load of trees and influenced by site features.
The mass spectrum of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by apples strongly varied during storage.

V International Postharvest Symposium

L. Fadanelli, M. Comai, A. Dorigoni, F. Mattivi, A. Boschetti

Malus x domestica, crop load, fruit quality, volatile organic compounds, antioxidants, relative principal components (R-PCA)

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.682.98