Physiology and prediction of fruit tolerance to low-oxygen atmospheres
1991
Ke, D. | Rodriguez-Sinobas, L. | Kader, A.A.
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-O2, atmospheres on their postharvest physiology and quality attributes. Soluble solids content (SSC), pH, and external appearance were not significantly influenced, but resistance to CO2, 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 (T1) of fruits to low-O2, atmospheres could be predicted as follows: T1 = EO/VE = (10(0.228 SSC))/VE.
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