Several sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars were stored in air or modified-atmosphere packages (MAP) at 1 °C for 2 or 4 weeks, respectively. The new cultivars included `Santina', `Sumpaca Celeste', `Sumnue Cristalina', `Sumste Samba', `Sandra Rose', `Sumleta Sonata', and `Skeena', and the standards were `Lapins', `Sweetheart', and `Bing'. Fruit were rated for defects (stem browning, stem shrivel and fruit surface pitting), and fruit quality at harvest and after storage. Weight loss during storage was influenced by year, storage treatment, and cultivar. Stem shrivel, stem browning, and fruit surface pitting varied among cultivars and years. Generally, fruit stored in MAP had higher fruit firmness than at harvest or when stored in air. The respiration rate of fruit was lower in later than in earlier maturing cultivars, but respiration rate at harvest was not related to any of the quality measurements taken after storage.

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Whole green bell peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) were obtained through a local fresh-cut company. They were washed in a 100 ppm chlorine solution, dried and then sliced into 0.5-cm wide strips. A bulk sample of slices was divided into four treatments: (1) no wash, (2) one wash in fresh distilled water, (3) two sequential washes in fresh distilled water, and (4) three sequential washes in fresh distilled water. Retention of firmness of the pepper slices during storage at 7°C improved with the number of washes after cutting. The modification of package atmosphere was less in all wash treatments than in the Ôno washÕ control. The sliced tissues of Ôno washÕ controls had higher levels of acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate. Analysis of the wash water revealed that sequential washes with water removed incremental amounts of acetaldehyde and soluble phenols from the cut surfaces of the tissue. These results show that washing has a dramatic effect on physicochemical measures of quality in green pepper slices, and it is likely that this effect is mediated by the removal of stress-related compounds produced during the cutting operation. While acetaldehyde and total phenolics were the two stress-related compounds measured in the wash water, it may be that other compounds removed in the wash water could have contributed to the beneficial effects on quality reported in this study.

A convenient and reliable method that used a specially designed tool to apply a uniform bruising force in situ was developed to assess the relative susceptibility to fruit surface pitting in sweet cherry. Assessment of pitting with a visual scale after 2 weeks of 1 °C storage was found to be in close agreement with measurements of pit diameter. Using this method `Bing' showed the greatest susceptibility to pitting in both years of the study and `Bing', `Lapins', and `Sweetheart' cherries showed a decline in susceptibility as fruit matured. The predictive value of fruit firmness at harvest, fruit respiration at harvest, and weight loss in storage was assessed in relation to the severity of pitting. The model to best describe pitting was found to include all three physiological variables (firmness, respiration, and weight loss). While an acceptable model was obtained when combining all three cultivars, the best models were achieved when each cultivar was considered separately. It was concluded that there are likely unmeasured variables involved in determining susceptibility to pitting. Hence the best approach to predicting pitting susceptibility is the application of the pit-induction method described in this work.

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