Christie Lumpkin, John Fellman, David Rudell, and James Mattheis
United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Tree Fruit Research Lab, 1104 N. Western Ave., Wenatchee, WA 98801
USDA-ARS Publication # 304395
Post harvest Biology and Technology, February 2015, Volume 100, Pages 234-243 View Full Article
Interpretive Summary: ‘Fuji’ apples can develop postharvest disorders that render the fruit unmarketable. These disorders, typically internal browning often with small cavities in the internal tissues, occur several months after harvest in response to inappropriate storage conditions. Losses of this type reduce production efficiency and contribute to reduced food security and higher per apple production energy cost. As symptoms occur internally and usually during low oxygen controlled atmosphere storage, it is difficult for warehouse personnel to determine if problems in storage are occurring. By analyzing volatile compounds collected from apple storage rooms, scientists at the USDA Tree Fruit Research Laboratory identified several compounds that could serve as an early warning of conditions that lead to disorder development. This technique could provide apple storage operators with additional information about fruit response to storage conditions that could be used to avoid storage conditions that promote disorder development.
