Pre-harvest fruit bagging influences fruit color and quality of apple cv. Delicious

Ram Roshan Sharma, Ram Krishna Pal, Ram Asrey, Vidya Ram Sagar, Mast Ram Dhiman, Mani Ram Rana

Division of Post Harvest Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India;.
IARI Regional Research Station, Katrain, India.
National Research Centre for Pomegranate, Solapur, India.
Pomologist and Fruit Grower, Baragaon, Kullu, India.

DOI: 10.4236/as.2013.49059                

Abstract

An attempt was made to observe the effect of pre-harvest bagging with spun-bound fabric bags on color and quality of Delicious apple. Bagging was done about a month before harvesting and removed 3-day before harvesting. Bagged and non-bagged fruits were stored at 2℃ ± 1℃ and 90%-95% RH. Observations were recorded on color and fruit quality attributes such as total phenolics, AOX activity, fruit Ca contents, LOX activity, SSC and ascorbic acid contents at harvest and during storage. Our studies have revealed that bagged fruits have better color development (Hunter “a” = 52) than non-bagged fruits at harvest (Hunter “a” = 38), which declined slightly during storage. Similarly, at harvest, bagged fruits contained high amounts of Ca (5.38 mg/100g) and total phenolics (9.3 mg GAE/100gpulp) exhibited higher AOX activity (12.6 μmoles Trolox g^-1), and had better SSC and ascorbic acid contents than non-bagged fruits, and there was a decline in all recorded parameters during storage. Bagged fruits exhibited lower LOX activity (1.38 μmoles min^{-1 g-1} FW) at harvest than non-bagged fruits (2.14 μmoles min^{-1 g-1} FW), indicating that non-bagged fruits were more senescent than bagged fruits. Further, LOX activity increased during storage both in bagged and non-bagged apples but increase in LOX activity was slower in bagged apples than in non-bagged apples.

Keywords

Apple; Fruit Bagging; Color; Firmness; LOX Activity; AOX Activity; Fruit Quality

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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