COMMERCIAL APPLE CA STORAGE TEMPERATURE REGIMES WITH 1-MCP (SMARTFRESH^TM): BENEFITS AND RISKS

Storage studies undertaken in 2009-2010 with ‘Elstar’, ‘Gala’ and ‘Jonagold’ show 1-Methycyclopropene (1-MCP; SmartFresh^TM) treated apples ripen more slowly even when stored under higher than normal controlled atmosphere (CA) storage temperatures to provide energy savings, cost and environmental (reduced carbon footprint) benefits.
Our studies involved three commercial storage operations in southwest Germany where comparable CA rooms were filled with pre-cooled fruit of similar origin and quality.
One room was treated with SmartFresh^TM and held at a temperature set-point ~2.5°C above an untreated room.
CA atmosphere conditions were different for each cultivar but identical for both untreated and treated rooms.
Fruit were stored for 6 to 8 months.
Energy balances calculated separately for the ‘Gala’ rooms from the cooling and CA equipment run time records show a 35% energy saving difference.
Ripening behaviour and quality changes were monitored regularly during storage and at storage removal fruit samples were either held in ambient air for 7d or held in a simulated marketing chain followed by a short shelf-life period at ambient temperatures before quality parameters from both rooms were compared and sensory tests carried out.
Results for ‘Gala’ apples show fruit stored at the higher temperature treated with SmartFresh^TM were preferred by an untrained sensory panel.
Results for ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Elstar’ were also encouraging but are not presented in detail here.

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Postharvest Technology in the Global Market

R. McCormick, D.A. Neuwald , J. Streif

fruit quality, respiration, ethylene, sensory evaluation, weight loss, carbon footprint

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.934.32