New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts

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Apple (Malus domestica) softening in the postharvest coolchain: effects of delayed cooling and shelf-life temperatures

Jason W. Johnston¹
Errol W. Hewett^2,*
Maarten L. A. T. M. Hertog³

Institute for Food, Nutrition and Human Health
Massey University
Private Bag 11 222
Palmerston North, New Zealand
email: E.W.Hewett@massey.ac.nz

¹Present address: Plant Conservation Group, School of Contemporary Science, University of Abertay, Kydd Building, Bell St, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 1HG, United Kingdom.

² Present address: Institute for Food, Nutrition and Human Health, Massey University Albany Campus, North Shore Mail Centre, Private Bag 102 904, Auckland, New Zealand.

³Present address: Flanders Laboratory of Postharvest Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, W. de Croylaan 42, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract  ‘Royal Gala’ and ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ apples (Malus domestica) soften rapidly after harvest, resulting in poor fruit quality after extended periods of storage and transportation. This study sought to characterise the effects of delayed cooling, intermittent warming, and exposure to shelf-life temperatures on softening of these cultivars during postharvest handling. Rapid cooling of freshly harvested fruit to cold-storage temperatures delayed the onset of rapid softening and improved the firmness market life of both cultivars. Fruit transferred temporarily from 0.5-3°C to ambient temperatures (10-20°C) were softer once returned to 0.5-3°C, an effect exacerbated by increased temperature and duration of the break in the coolchain. Storage temperature and duration did not affect subsequent softening rates of either cultivar at 20°C. Softening rates, derived from constant temperature treatments, were able to describe softening in fruit treated with stepwise changes in temperature, indicating that rate of softening at a given temperature was not affected by prior exposure to temperatures between 0.5 and 20°C. Results from this research could be used to develop models that estimate softening of both cultivars during postharvest handling.

Keywords  Malus domestica; firmness; ethylene; coolchain; quality; empirical modelling

H04105; Online publication date 22 July 2005 Received 2 December 2004; accepted 31 March 2005
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2005, Vol. 33: 283-292
0014-0671/05/3303-0283 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005

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