Could an Early Treatment with GA and BA Impact Prolonged Cold Storage and Shelf Life of Apricot?

Abstract

Application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) in apricot orchards is a common practice with a goal of improving yield and/or quality of fruits at harvest. However, the question of whether such treatment alters postharvest properties is seldom answered. The effects of an early application of PGRs on postharvest changes on apricots were investigated on cultivar NS-4, grown on Myrobalan rootstock with blackthorn interstock in a 5-year-old orchard. PGR treatments included 50 and 100 ppm of benzyladenine (BA) and 200 ppm of gibberellic acid (GA3), which were applied when the green ovary was surrounded by dying a sepal crown, at the stage where sepals beginning to fall. Apricots at the stage of commercial ripeness were used for the postharvest experiments. Analysis was performed at harvest, after 21 days of cold storage (at 1 ± 1 °C and 80 ± 10% RH), and after 3 days of shelf life (24 ± 2 °C). At harvest, significant differences were observed between treated and untreated fruits regarding flesh firmness, color, ethylene production and respiration rate, flavonoid, carotenoid and citric acid content, while application of BA100 changed TA and TSS. Prolonged cold storage reduced the initial differences in firmness, respiration rate, flavonoid and carotenoid contents, but new differences in fructose, malic and succinic acid contents began to appear. Shelf life reduced the difference in citric acid, but differences in TA, TSS, phenol and flavonoid content appeared. There is no difference in the sensory properties of treated and non-treated fruit after cold storage and shelf life.

Impact of Cold Storage Temperature and Shelf Life on Ripening Physiology, Quality Attributes, and Nutritional Value in Apricots—Implication of Cultivar

“…In another study in Bergarouge apricots, TC concentration increased during CS at 1 • C for 14 days and then decreased at day 21, while when fruit were subjected to SL, TC values remained at constant levels until day 4 and then decreased on day 8 [42]. Also, Milović et al [41] reported an increase in TC concentration in NS-4 apricots during CS at 1 • C for 21 days and after 3 days of SL. Ruiz et al [26] reported that TC values ranged between 1.3 and 38.5 mg 100 g −1 FW and observed a significant relationship between flesh color and TC concentration in 37 apricot cultivars, proposing that the use of color parameter values, particularly h • , can lead to the prediction of TC content of apricot cultivars.…”

“…However, Orange Rubis apricots exhibited significantly lower values in the determined variables of TP, TF, and TAC compared to Orange Red fruit when subjected to SL right after harvest. In another study on NS-4 apricots stored at 1 • C for 21 days, the levels of TP and TF were found at almost stable levels but decreased after SL at 24 • C for 3 days [41]. Contrarily, Ezzat et al [42] reported that the levels of TP and TAC, evaluated using FRAP assay, decreased during CS at 1 • C for up to 21 days and during SL at 25 • C for up to 8 days.…”