Storage Technologies for Jeromin Apples: From Traditional to Innovative

Introduction: Balanced nutrition is essential for maintaining human health. Apple fruits are the most consumed fruits produced in temperate regions of the world. Red-colored sweet apple cultivars (Jeromin) are in high demand among consumers. Storage technologies with regular (RA), controlled atmosphere with ultra-low oxygen (ULO) and dynamic controlled atmosphere (DCA) regulate/manage fruit ripening with different efficiency, which provides year-round access to fruits of high/acceptable quality with healthy components for consumers. The influence of post-harvest factors on susceptibility to physiological diseases and effective storage period for a relatively new apple cultivar Jeromin has not been studied, DCA technology is being developed for the first time.

Purpose: To identify the susceptibility of apple fruits cv. Jeromin to physiological storage diseases, to track the influence of meteorological conditions of the pre-harvest period on the development of physiological diseases, to study the influence of 4 existing (RA-control, RA+1-MCP, ULO-control, ULO+1-MCP) and 2 storage technologies under development (DCA-control, DCA+1-MCP) on physiological, biochemical and other quality indicators of apples, its susceptibility to diseases, and the storage duration to create a year-round storage system for the cultivar.

Materials and Methods: The objects of the study were the apple fruits cv. Jeromin; some of the fruits were treated with 1-MCP, the control and treated lots were stored under RA, ULO and DCA conditions; ethylene, α-farnesene and its oxidation products (CT281), fruit firmness, dry soluble substances content, titratable acidity, losses from diseases, etc. were determined.

Results: Depending on the presence of factors inhibiting fruit metabolism, the effective storage periods of the apple fruits cv. Jeromin using the 6 studied technologies are: RA-control (up to 3.5 months), RA+1-MCP (up to 5 months), ULO-control (4–5 months), ULO+1-MCP (8–9 months), DCA-control (9–10 months), DCA+1-MCP (9–11 months). Storage of the apple fruits cv. Jeromin using DCA-control technology with an effective arsenal of fruit ripening inhibition agents provides protection from superficial scald, minimizes losses from bitter pit, eliminates losses from leather blotch, increases the storage period to 9–10 months, with maximum consumer tasting assessment.

Conclusion: The storage system of the apple fruits cv. Jeromin (6 technologies) ensures the preservation of high-quality products and the possibility of their successful sale on the Russian market for the period from 3.5 to 11 months after harvesting, i.e. practically until the new harvest. The high level of preservation of commercial and consumer quality (taste, aroma), the absence of post-harvest chemical treatments determine the preference of the DCA-control technology for the consumers and serious grounds for its industrial development. Due to increasing consumer demands for the quality and safety of fruits, as well as the risks of damage to fruits by MCP-mediated diseases, the competitiveness of storage technologies with post-harvest 1-MCP treatment (RA + 1-MCP, ULO + 1-MCP) is decreasing.

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