Effects of Rapid Consecutive Postharvest 1-Methylcyclopropene Treatments on Fruit Quality and Storage Disorders in Apples

Abstract

<jats:p>The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of rapid consecutive 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatments on apple quality and disorders in storage. ‘McIntosh’ and ‘Spartan’ apples were harvested twice from commercial orchards and 1-MCP (1 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>) was applied postharvest either 1 day after harvest or 1 and 2 days after harvest. Similar fruit from both cultivars were also not treated with 1-MCP, plus an additional treatment of 2 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> (double rate) 1-MCP was used on ‘McIntosh’. Fruit were held in either air storage at 0.5 °C for three or six months or in controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage for six or nine months. Overall, 1-MCP treatment improved firmness and acidity retention and reduced internal ethylene in both cultivars. However, ‘Spartan’ stored in CA often maintained these attributes without 1-MCP. ‘McIntosh’ apples treated twice with 1-MCP were often firmer than those treated just once. All 1-MCP treatments substantially reduced superficial scald and there was no difference in scald incidence among the treatments. Core browning was generally reduced by 1-MCP, but fruit treated once with 2 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> or twice with 1 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> 1-MCP sometimes had higher incidence than fruit treated only once with 1 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>. ‘Spartan’ treated twice with 1-MCP also had higher incidence of internal browning after nine months. 1-MCP increased the incidence of external CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> injury in ‘McIntosh’ from the first harvest, with fruit treated with 2 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> having the highest incidence after six months of CA storage and those treated once with 1 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> having the highest incidence after nine months. Storage rots were greatest after six months of air storage and 1-MCP treatments usually reduced the incidence, regardless of treatment. These results suggest that using more than the traditional single application of 1 μL·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> 1-MCP may improve firmness retention, but there is also some risk associated with increased disorders, especially when storing apples long-term, such as for six months in air or nine months in CA storage.</jats:p>

Peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase activities in relation to flesh browning of stem-end and calyx-end tissues of ‘Empire’ apples during controlled atmosphere storage

“…Despite the absence of harvest date effects on flesh browning incidence, the results supported previous research showing that incidence of the disorder can be increased by 1-MCP treatment (Watkins, 2008;DeEll and Ehsani-Moghaddam, 2013;Watkins and Nock, 2005;Jung and Watkins, 2011), and that disorder development is greater in the stem end than calyx end tissues (Lee et al, 2012a). Therefore, these data provided an opportunity to investigate the potential involvement of PPO and POX activities and total phenolic concentrations in browning of tissue from different parts of the fruit and in response to 1-MCP.…”

Effects of Preharvest and Postharvest Applications of 1-Methylcyclopropene on Fruit Quality and Physiological Disorders of ‘Fuji’ Apples during Storage at Warm and Cold Temperatures

“…The shorter the time between preharvest 1-MCP treatment and harvest, the firmer the fruit and the lower the IEC for 'Delicious' apple, although there was no direct effect of the ethylene concentration on firmness during the storage of fruit treated with preharvest and postharvest 1-MCP (Elfving et al, 2007;Lee et al, 2016). Postharvest 1-MCP treatment maintained higher TA than no treatment during cold storage as the IEC was suppressed, but it did not affect the responses of SSC (DeEll and Ehsani-Moghaddam, 2013). Loss of acidity is similar to starch degradation, with low dependency on, but high sensitivity to, ethylene (Johnston et al, 2009).…”

“…ethylene perception, is widely used by apple industries after harvest to maintain fruit quality attributes, such as fruit firmness, acidity, sweetness, juiciness, and crispiness (Bai et al, 2005;DeEll et al, 2007;DeLong et al, 2004;Larrigaudi ere et al, 2008;Jung and Lee, 2009;Watkins et al, 2000). Treatment with 1-MCP can reduce the development of certain physiological disorders, such as senescent breakdown (DeLong et al, 2004;Jung and Watkins, 2008), diffuse flesh breakdown (Lee et al, 2016), core browning (DeEll and Ehsani-Moghaddam, 2013), fruit cracking (Lee et al, 2016), flesh breakdown , peel greasiness (Dong et al, 2012), and superficial scald (Lurie and Watkins, 2012). However, 1-MCP can increase the incidence of diffuse skin browning (Larrigaudi ere et al, 2010), flesh browning Watkins, 2008), radial stem-end flesh breakdown (Lee et al, 2016), and CO 2 injury (DeEll et al, 2003;Fawbush et al, 2008;Zanella, 2003).…”

Characterization and Quantification of Postharvest Losses of Apple Fruit Stored under Commercial Conditions

“…The impact 1-MCP has on the fungal decay process have been variable. Studies have shown that 1-MCP may decrease (Cameldi et al, 2016;DeEll and Ehsani-Moghaddam, 2013;Gago et al, 2015;Li et al, 2017;Saftner et al, 2003;Zhou et al, 2016) or increase (Janisiewicz et al, 2003;Leverentz et al, 2003) decay incidence in apples, whereas other studies have shown no effect on decay (DeEll et al, 2007;DeLong et al, 2004;Errampalli et al, 2012). Similarly, 1-MCP can inhibit physiological disorders such as superficial scald, senescent breakdown, and bitter pit while exacerbating others such as carbon dioxide injury, leather blotch, and diffuse skin browning (DeEll et al, 2003;Mattheis, 2008;Watkins, 2008;Watkins and Mattheis, 2019).…”

“…The incidence of physiological disorders in apples is highly regulated by the genotype and environmental conditions before and after harvest (Watkins and Mattheis, 2019). These disorders have been reported to potentially cause losses higher than 80% of total stored fruit (DeEll and Ehsani-Moghaddam, 2013;DeLong et al, 2004;Koushesh Saba and Watkins, 2020;Lee et al, 2016;Mattheis et al, 2017). Although studies have attempted to elucidate the factors and mechanisms regulating physiological disorders in apples, there is still limited knowledge to develop efficient prediction approaches as a means to reduce losses caused by these disorders (Watkins and Mattheis, 2019).…”