No abstract

Sweetheart ' cherries were sealed in peiforated or nonperforatedpolyethylene bags and stored for 6 weeks in air at OC. Samples were removed after 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks of storage and evaluated for fruit and sensory quality. Volatile analyses were done on samples kept in storage for 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9 weeks. Atmospheres afrer 6 weeks of storage were approximately 4.6% 0, and 10% CO, for the peiforated bags (1993) and 6.6% 0, and 3.5% CO, for the non-peiforated bags (1994). Fruit brightness (L* value), firmness and titratable acidity declined during storage. Skin color (hue angle) decreased slightly in redness over the 6-week storage period. Sensory evaluation in 1993 showed a decline in fruit appearance and flavor with storage duration. Texture and juiciness did not change. Acceptability remained high for the first 4 weeks of storage. Twenty-seven volatiles were identified by head-space analysis (I 993). Little change occurred in volatile production except for acetaldehyde which increased sharply from week 2 to 4 and ethanol which increased sharply between week 8 and week 9. Butyl acetate behaved much like acetaldehyde. Modified atmosphere packaging maintained high fruit luster and green stems. No differences in fruit quality were observed with bag type, but storage appears to be limited to 4 weeks for 'Sweetheart' cherries because offlavor loss.

Pulsed application of overtree irrigation for evaporative cooling of `Jonagold' apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) reduced visible solar injury by 15.8% (1991) and 9.4% (1992). Maximum fruit surface temperature was reduced by 8.1 °C on a day when the average surface mean of nonsprayed fruit rose to 45.6 °C. Air heated more slowly than the exposed fruit surface and was cooled only 1 to 2 °C by overtree irrigation. Cooling did not affect fruit size, firmness, or redness but reduced soluble solids concentration and increased titratable acidity. Storage breakdown was unaffected in the first year but was reduced by 6.0% in the second year.

A storage disorder of sweet cherries referred the disorder than storage at a temperature to as surface pitting is described and illus-several deglees higher. Neither mineral foliar trated. Differeni handling, packaging and stor-sprays nor controlled atmosphere storage age treatments influenced the amount of the were effective in preventing surface pitting, disorder, but did not prevent it.

Fruit were studied to determine if anatomical and physiological features explain the difference in susceptibility to rain-induced cracking of the sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars Sue (resistant), Lapins (moderately resistant), and Van (susceptible). Water uptake as a percentage of fruit weight at cracking tended to be high in `Sue', medium in `Lapins', and low in `Van' and was related to the percentage of cherries remaining sound after 4 hours of immersion, suggesting that this trait is a factor in determining resistance. Mesocarp cells of `Sue' were more rectangular in section than those of the other cultivars. Skin elasticity and thickness of the cuticle did not explain resistance of `Sue' to cracking. Magnesium, copper, and phosphorus mineral contents were not related to cracking susceptibility, but the content of calcium, which influences cell wall integrity, in the epidermis of `Sue' was lower than in `Van'. Calcium content was not different in the hypodermal cells of the two cultivars. None of the anatomical features examined in this study explain the resistance to fruit cracking of `Sue'.