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A two year study of `Golden Delicious' and `York Imperial' apple responses to delayed cooling and CA storage imposition after harvest was completed in 1991. Apples from six to eight commercial orchards were harvested at an acceptable maturity level for long-term storage, subjected to a delay in refrigeration (0,3, or 6 days) followed by a delay in CA storage imposition (0,14, or 28 days), and then stored at 0°c, 2.4% oxygen, and 1.6% carbon dioxide for up to eight months. Fruit acidity, soluble solids content, bitter pit incidence, scald, internal breakdown, and the development of low oxygen injury were not influenced by the delays. Delays often resulted in more rot and excessive weight loss during storage. Delays in both cooling and CA storage imposition had an additive effect on fruit softening, such that the longest delays resulted in the softest fruit.
Spur-type or nonspur `Delicious' apple scions on either Malus domestica Borkh. (seedling) or M.26 rootstocks received paclobutrazol foliar sprays in one or two `consecutive years or a soil drench in the year of planting. For each scion, total shoot, root shank, and tree dry weights measured in the 3rd year after planting were suppressed by all treatments. Trees on M.26 put less dry weight into rootstock wood after foliar sprays, but trees on seedling were not similarly affected. No treatment influenced fibrous root dry weight of the spur-type scion on seedling, while all treatments suppressed dry-weight gain of the same scion on M.26. All trees had higher root: shoot ratios and blossom densities 3 years after the soil drench and several had higher ratios after foliar sprays. Chemical name used: ß-[(4-chlorophenyl)methyl] (l,l-dimethylethyl)-l-H-1,2,4-triazole-l-ethanol (paclobutrazol, PB).
A grant from the Pa. Dept. of Agriculture has allowed Penn State University to increase postharvest physiology research of fruit, vegetables, and mushrooms. One part of this program is a CA storage research facility described herein. An insulated pole barn (26m × 18m with 5m ceilings) houses the facility. Three coolers (6m × 7m with 10cm insulation) provide environmental control for the CA systems (-2 to 10C ±0.5C). A laboratory within the building (6m × 7m × 3m) provides space for product evaluation and for CA control equipment. A total of 239 steel drums (208-liter), fitted with 28 cm round plexiglass windows, are the CA chambers. Gas pumps provide flow to: each chamber, the gas analysis system, and the CO2 scrubbing system. A David Bishop Instruments Oxystat 2, analyzes O2 and CO2 and provides control signals. High CO2 can be removed either by lime scrubbing or by flushing with gases containing N2 and the desired O2 level. Several large experiments involving 7.8 MT of apples were started and preliminary results will be presented.
Mature spur-type `Delicious'/seedling apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh.) were examined for 2 years after paclobutrazol (PB) foliar sprays with or without a soil cover to direct spray runoff away from the root zone, soil sprays, or a trunk drench. Foliar sprays with runoff reduced shoot number and fruit pedicel length in the year of treatment, but had no effect on shoot length. Trees that received foliar sprays with no runoff had fewer and shorter shoots and shorter pedicels the year after treatment. Soil sprays or a trunk drench reduced shoot number and pedicel length for 2 years after application, while only soil sprays reduced fruit weight, diameter, and length. Chemical name used: β- [(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]- α -(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1 H -1,2,4,-triazol-1-ethanol (paclobutrazol).