Physiology and Prediction of Fruit Tolerance to Low-oxygen Atmospheres

Autor: Leonor Rodríguez-Sinobas, Adel A. Kader, Dangyang Ke
Rok vydání: 1991
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 116:253-260
ISSN: 2327-9788
0003-1062
DOI: 10.21273/jashs.116.2.253
Popis: Fruits of 'Granny Smith' and 'Yellow Newtown' apples (Malus domestica Borkh), '20th Century' pear (Pyrus serotina L.), and 'Angeleno' plum (Prunus domestica L.) were kept in air and in 0.25% or 0.02% O2 at 0, 5, or 10C for 3, 7, 14, 25, or 35 days to study the effects of low-O 2 atmospheres on their postharvest physiology and quality attributes. Soluble solids content (SSC), pH, and external appearance were not significantly influenced, but resistance to CO 2 diffusion was increased by the low-O2 treatments. Exposures to the low-O2 atmospheres inhibited ripening, including reduction in ethylene production rate, retardation of skin color changes and flesh softening, and maintenance of titratable acidity. The most important detrimental effect of the low-O2 treatments was development of an alcoholic off-flavor that had a logarithmic relation with ethanol content of the fruits. The ethanol content causing slight off-flavor (EO) increased with SSC of the commodity at the ripe stage, and it could be estimated using the following formula: (Log EO)/SSC = 0.228. Using SSC of ripe fruits and average ethanol accumulation rate per day (VE) from each low-O2 treatment, the tolerance limit (Tl) of fruits to low-O2 atmospheres could be predicted as follows: T l = E O /VE = (10 0.228SSC )/V E. Extensive studies have been done to investigate the effects of controlled atmospheres (CA) on postharvest physiology and quality attributes of apples (Bramlage, 1977; Chen et al., 1985, 1989; Couey and Olsen, 1977; Dewey and Bourne, 1982; John- son and Ertan, 1983; Lau, 1983; Lidster et al., 1983; Little et al., 1982; Liu and Ci, 1986; Porrits and Meheriuk, 1977). Ben- eficial effects of low-O 2 and/or high-CO2 atmospheres on ex- tending the storage life of apples include reduction in rates of respiration and ethylene production, color changes, and soft- ening; maintenance of vitamins, sugars, acids, and flavor; and inhibition of some physiological disorders and decay. However, prolonged storage of apples in stress levels of low-O 2 and/or high-CO2 atmospheres may cause detrimental effects, such as accumulation of ethanol and acetaldehyde, development of off- flavor, failure to ripen after removal to air, and development of low-O2 and/or high-CO2 injury (Fidler and North, 1971; Little and Peggie, 1987; Nichols. and Patterson, 1987; Patterson and Nichols, 1988). Very little work has been done to study the effects of low O 2 and/or high CO2 on Asian pears. Zagory et al. (1989) found no obvious benefits for CA in long-term storage of 'Early Gold' and 'Shinko' pears. Asian pears are also quite susceptible to low-O2 and high-CO2 injuries (such as discolored surface depressions or flesh browning) that were observed after 4 to 6 months of storage in 1% to 3% O2 or in air enriched with 5% CO2 (Richardson, 1985). Low-O2 and/or high-CO2 atmospheres reduced respiration rate, softening, decay, and loss of soluble solids and extended the storage life of plums (Claypool and Allen, 1951; Couey, 1960, 1965; Maxie et al., 1958; Sive and Resnizky, 1979). Storage of peaches and nectarines in 1% O2 + 5% CO2 with intermittent warming reduced internal breakdown, extended storage life, and maintained levels of sugars, acids, and unsaturated fatty acids (Wang and Anderson, 1982). Treatments with low O2 and/or high CO2 were also reported to retard softening and color changes
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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