2019 ASHS Annual Conference

The effect of delay for 3 or 10 d with or without 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment before the long term storage of controlled atmosphere (CA) storage and dynamic CA-Chlorophyll Florescence (DCA-CF) storage on fruit quality and physiological disorder development has been investigated. ‘McIntosh’ and ‘Cortland’ apples were harvested from four different blocks in Hudson Valley (HV), Champlain region, and western New York (WNY), while ‘Red Delicious’ fruit were harvested from four different blocks in HV and WNY. ‘McIntosh’ fruit were stored at 3 ^○C in CA (2kPa O₂/ 5kPa CO₂) and in DCA-CF (1kPa O₂/ 2.5kPa CO₂). ‘Cortland’ and ‘Red Delicious’ were stored at 0.5 ^○C in CA (2kPa O₂/ 2kPa CO₂) and in DCA-CF (0.7kPa O₂/ 1kPa CO₂, and 0.6kPa O₂/ 1kPa CO₂, respectively). Fruit quality and physiological disorders were assessed after 8 months and +1 or 7 d at 20 ˚C. The effect of delaying CA on fruit quality and physiological disorders was variable between regions for each cultivar. The results show that DCA-CF was better than CA in maintaining fruit quality for all apple cultivars from all regions after 8 months of storage. In addition, DCA-CF decreased incidences of superficial scald and external CO₂ injury. Also, a synergistic effect was found between DCA-CF+ 1-MCP on maintaining the highest flesh firmness.