Respiration Studies of Strawberries

Abstract

In the study of promising new varieties of strawberries, it is desirable to employ some measurement that will give satisfactory evidence of their keeping quality when compared with standard varieties in a district. To this end, HARDY and LOCKLIN (unpublished) have employed a test by means of which the firmness of the fruit is expressed in grams of pressure necessary to force a one-eighth inch plunger through the flesh to a depth of three-sixteentlis of an inch. It was noted, however, that frequently the firmness of the flesh of varieties was not consistently correlated with casual observations as to the keeping quality at laboratory temperatures. This indicated that varieties having the most firm flesh did not necessarily possess the lowest rate of metabolism.

Effects of Acetaldehyde on Postharvest Quality of Mechanically Harvested Strawberries for Processing1

“…Numerous studies (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15) have been conducted on postharvest holding of strawberries; however, little research (7) has been reported on the storage quality of machine-harvested strawberries. Acetaldehyde production occurs during postharvest storage of strawberries (12,14,15) when held under high C02 concentrations.…”