Vol. 75 No: 4

Title:
The effects of storage conditions on the keeping quality of 'Gala' apples

Authors:
J. STOW and P. GENGE

pp: 393-399

Abstract:
Experiments were conducted over three years to determine the optimum storage conditions for 'Gala' apples. Fruit was stored in a range of carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations at 1.5 and 3.5°C and in air at 0 and 1.5°C. Firmness during storage was retained most effectively at high carbon dioxide concentrations and low oxygen concentrations. During a subsequent 7 d simulated marketing period in air at 20°C, softening was greater in samples which had been stored in oxygen concentrations above 1% than in samples from 1% oxygen. The content of flavour volatiles declined rapidly after storage for ten weeks, but the scores for acceptability given by a sensory panel declined only slowly during storage and were positively correlated with firmness. Storage in air at 0°C was limited to ten weeks, after which fruit was unacceptably soft. Firmness was maintained adequately at 1.5°C in <1% CO₂ + 1% O₂ and 5% CO₂ + 1% O₂, but the development of scald and low-temperature breakdown limited the storage life of the variety to 21 and 2 weeks, respectively. The incidence of disorders was not related to the starch-iodine staining pattern at harvest.

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