Storage Life of a Midseason Peach Held at 5 °C

Abstract

<jats:p>Growers in north and central Texas produce peaches of exceptional size and quality yet have no information on the best maturity stage/storage regime for maximum shelf life. `Majestic' peaches were harvested at five maturity stages, corresponding to hard green through full red, soft ripeness. Intermittent warming and/or delayed warming reduces chilling injury in peaches and these treatments were used on hard green through firm red stages. Fruit were held 4 weeks at 5 °C, 85% RH continuously (control); 1 day at 20 °C followed by 4 weeks at 5 °C (DS); 4 weeks at 5 °C with 1 day warming at 20 °C every 2 weeks (IW). Chilling injury symptoms (internal browning) were noted on control and IW peaches after 2 weeks storage. We concluded that hard green peaches are too immature and red peaches at velvet and full soft stages are too soft (&lt;20N flesh resistance) to ship. Chilling injury appeared in peaches after 2 weeks storage at 5 °C but could be avoided by delaying storage for 24 hours after harvest.</jats:p>

Effect of Different Commercial Fertilizers, Harvest Date, and Storage Time on Two Organically Grown Blackberry Cultivars: Physicochemical Properties, Antioxidant Properties, and Sugar Profiles

“…Five nondecayed berries from each clamshell container were individually measured on each sampling date for firmness using methodology originally developed by Joo et al [33] with modification to better approximate the conditions of the nondestructive subjective manual test commonly used by growers [34]. Briefly, berries were placed on their side, and the force (in N) required to compress the berry 5% of its total thickness was measured using a texture analyzer (Model TA-XT2, Texture Technologies Corp. Scarsdale, NY, USA) fitted with a 25 kg load cell and a 50 mm cylindrical probe.…”