Effects of Controlled Atmosphere Conditions on Storability of Libyan ‘Hurra’ Soft Date Cultivar

Abstract

Libyan 'Hurra' soft dates at 'Khalal' (Balah) stage were stored at 1º C and four controlled atmosphere (CA) treatments; O 2 -CO 2 percentages named as CA1 (7.33-4.23), CA2 (10.75-5.95), CA3 (12.08-3.38), and CA4 (15.05-2.70). CA treatments were compared with Regular Atmosphere (RA) (21-0.03) in storage duration. Quality related attributes such as mass loss, color, fruit firmness, Total Soluble Solids (TSS) and respiration rate were also measured at the start and the end of the storage duration. The four CA treatments led to extending fruit storability up to 23 weeks, compared with RA treatment which lasted for 7 weeks. Mass losses were about 5, 5, 6 and 8% for CA1 to CA4 treatments, respectively, while mass loss in RA treatment reached 38%. Color, firmness, TSS were all significantly lower than those measured at the start of the experiment, yet their ranges were in good agreement with values reported in the literature and fell within acceptable ranges. CA treatments also affected respiration, its mean rate was (<0.5ml -1 .kg -1 .h -1 ), compared with (2.2ml -1 .kg -1 .h -1 ) measured at RA. 