STORAGE PERFORMANCE IN PLUMS (PRUNUS DOMESTICA L.) TREATED WITH ETHEPHON BEFORE HARVEST AND WITH 1-MCP AFTER HARVEST

The effect of 1-MCP on softening and storage potential of ‘Cacanska Najbolja’ plums treated either with ethephon before harvest, or with ethylene gas after harvest, was investigated.
Ethylene production of the fruit was negligible at harvest, but increased gradually during cold storage irrespective of treatment.
In plums sprayed with ethephon at either 50 or 100 µl.L^-1 before harvest, the softening rate increased only slightly while the plums were still on the tree, but increased gradually while the plums were in cold storage.
When fruit were exposed to 1-MCP at 1 µl.L^-1 immediately after harvest, the softening rate was reduced both when the plums were stored at room temperature and when they were stored at -0.5°C. However, 1-MCP had little effect on the incidence of internal breakdown and on overall quality of cold-stored plums. ‘Cacanska Najbolja’ is much more resistant to internal breakdown during storage than are other European plum cultivars cultivated in Poland.
It can be stored at -0.5°C for up to eight weeks with minimal internal breakdown and only moderate loss of firmness, and there is no improvement of storability with 1-MCP.

XXVII International Horticultural Congress – IHC2006: International Symposium on The Role of Postharvest Technology in the Globalisation of Horticulture

H. Plich

1-methylcyclopropene, plum, internal breakdown, softening, ethylene

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.768.15