Effects of pre- and postharvest factors on browning in Braeburn

Abstract

The effects of several pre-and postharvest factors on apple cv. Braeburn browning disorder (BBD) incidence using a nine-factor experimental design has been investigated. The design allowed the determination of the effects of single factors as well as their interaction with growing season and storage time. BBD increased in severity with storage duration. BBD incidence was reduced with calcium and potassium fertilizers application, while it was increased when triazoles were used. Delayed controlled atmosphere (DCA) application resulted in less BBD in storage, while treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) increased BBD incidence. More BBD was observed in fruit stored at above optimal CO 2 levels. BBD incidence was increased when O 2 concentration in CA was increased from 1 kPa to 3 kPa (optimum CA) or 6 kPa. Finally, the various factors showed a different effect for different growing seasons and storage time. These findings suggest a possible mechanism for the development of BBD. Further work should focus on extending the experimental design to include the interactions between the different pre-and postharvest factors.Keywords: Braeburn browning disorder; fertilizers; triazoles; controlled atmosphere; 1-methylcyclopropene Malus domestica Borkh., cv. Braeburn is a popular apple cultivar worldwide. To facilitate year-round availability of fruit, apples are stored at low temperature under controlled atmosphere (CA) conditions. Under the commercial storage conditions, apples can be stored well as a result of their reduced metabolic rate. The storability of cv. Braeburn is, however, limited by the development of internal browning (Elgar et al. 1999). Affected fruit show patches of brown tissue which can result in cavity formation (Elgar et al. 1998). The combination of brown flesh and off flavours makes brown apples unacceptable in the market, resulting in economic losses.Different apple varieties vary in their susceptibility to browning (Streif 2008). Cv. Braeburn has a high skin resistance (Rajapakse et al. 1990) turning the skin into a stronger diffusion barrier as compared to some other apple cultivars. Together with a dense cellular organization this results in relative high internal CO 2 concentration (Herremans et

Influence of pre‐harvest calcium, potassium and triazole application on the proteome of apple at harvest

“…Recent work has shown that calcium and potassium reduced the incidence of BBD, while triazoles had the opposite effect . As shown here, the pre‐harvest application of calcium and triazole significantly altered the proteome at harvest (Table ) as can be seen from their abundancies (Table and Supporting Table ).…”

“…To provide solutions to growers suffering from major losses, a better understanding of the biochemical changes preceding and accompanying the development of browning is necessary. Previously we reported on the effect of pre‐ and postharvest factors on browning in Braeburn as such. In addition, parallel studies focused on the related metabolic changes during postharvest …”

“…Studies on the application of paclobutrazol to different apple cultivars during and after full bloom, showed a reduced fruit set, crop load and total yield . Diffuse browning disorder of Cox's Orange Pippin apples was induced by the application of triazole derivatives, and triazole increased browning incidence also in Braeburn …”

Assessment of internal flesh browning in intact apple using visible-short wave near infrared spectroscopy

“…The browning symptom is considered to result from membrane disruption, with consequent oxidation of polyphenols otherwise localised to the vacuole of the brown compound, quinone, or its insoluble polymer, melanin (Hatoum et al, 2014a). The diffuse browning disorder developing during controlled atmosphere storage is suggested to be associated with varieties bred for increased crispness which also have lower intercellular space content (Herremans et al, 2014), although incidence severity is influenced by both pre and postharvest factors and their interaction (Castro et al, 2007;Franck et al, 2007;Castro et al, 2008;Benkeblia et al, 2011;Bergman et al, 2012;Wang and Sugar, 2013;Hatoum et al, 2014b). The incidence of the disorder can therefore be erratic (James and Jobling, 2009).…”

“…Preharvest factors include nutrition (chiefly calcium and nitrogen), irrigation, harvest maturity, growing degree days and days after full bloom (Moggia et al, 2015). The main postharvest factor associated with diffuse internal browning is high carbon dioxide concentration, (Ferguson et al, 1999;Hatoum et al, 2014b), with probability of incidence increasing for fruit in controlled atmosphere storage beyond six months (Castro et al, 2007).…”