Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 5 of 5 items for :
- Author or Editor: Robert K. Prange x
- Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science x
Effects of ozone and storage temperature on carrots and two postharvest pathogens—Botrytis cinerea Pers. and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum de Bary—were investigated. Pathogen-inoculated and uninoculated whole carrots were exposed to an ozone concentration of 0 (control), 7.5, 15, 30, or 60 μl·liter-1. Treatment chambers were flushed with a total flow rate of 0.5 liters·min-1 (air and ozone) for 8 h daily for 28 days. The experiment was repeated twice at storage temperatures of 2, 8, and 16C. The residual ozone concentration (ozone supplied-exhausted and reacted ozone) increased with ozone supply concentration but was less at higher storage temperatures. A 50% reduction of daily growth rates of both fungi at the highest ozone concentration indicated that ozone was fungistatic. Carrot respiration rate, electrolyte leakage, and total color differences increased with ozone concentration. Ozone-treated carrots were lighter (higher L* values) and less intense (lower chroma values) in color than control carrots.
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L. `Russet Burbank' and `Shepody') tubers were exposed to continuous 4 μL·L-1 (166 μmol·m-3) ethylene in air. Treatment started after 8 weeks in storage and continued up to 33 weeks of storage at 9 °C over one (`Russet Burbank') or two (`Shepody') storage seasons. Tubers were sampled at 3 week (`Shepody') or 5 week (`Russet Burbank') intervals for polyamine content [putrescine, (PUT); spermidine, (SPD); and spermine, (SPM)] and sprout number and fresh weight per tuber. During the storage period, `Shepody' had higher concentrations of all three polyamines and a higher PUT/(SPD + SPM) ratio, compared with `Russet Burbank'. All three polyamines in both cultivars increased during storage, and the increase was more rapid in `Shepody' than in `Russet Burbank'. Regardless of cultivar and year, exposure to ethylene induced higher spermidine (SPD) content and a lower PUT/(SPD + SPM) ratio, compared with the air treatment. Sprouts appeared later and were smaller on ethylene-treated tubers and were more numerous in `Russet Burbank'. These long-term ethylene effects may be due, in part, to enhanced transformation of PUT to SPD.
`Kent' strawberries were harvested at red, pink, and white stages of development, and stored at 15C in the light. Fruit were sampled over a 10-day period and evaluated for volatile production and surface color. Volatile production by red and pink fruit peaked after 4 days of storage. Maximum volatile production by red fruit was 8- and 25-fold greater than maximum production by pink and white fruit, respectively. Aroma volatiles were not detected in the headspace over white berries until 4 days following harvest after which volatile production increased through the tenth day of storage. Changes in the surface color of white berries during postharvest ripening coincided with the production of volatiles. In another experiment, red, pink, and white `Kent' strawberries were stored for 3 days at 10 or 20C in the dark or light. Fruit were then evaluated for volatile production, weight loss, anthocyanin content, and surface color changes. White berries produced volatile esters after 3 days of storage at 20C in the light. Both light and temperature influenced the relative production of the volatiles produced by pink fruit. Fresh weight loss, color change, and anthocyanin content were temperature and light dependent.
A new chlorophyll fluorescence (F) sensor system called FIRM (fluorescence interactive response monitor) was developed that measures F at low irradiance. This system can produce a theoretical estimate of Fo at zero irradiance for which we have coined a new fluorescence term, Fα. The ability of Fα to detect fruit and vegetable low-O2 stress was tested in short-term (4-day) studies on chlorophyll-containing fruit [apple (Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.), pear (Pyrus communis L.), banana (Musa ×paradisiaca L.), kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa C.S. Liang & A.R. Ferguson), mango (Mangifera indica L.), and avocado (Persea americana Mill.)] and vegetables (cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. Capitata Group), green pepper (Capsicum annuum L. Grossum Group), iceberg and romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)). In all of these fruit and vegetables, Fα was able to indicate the presence of low-O2 stress. As the O2 concentration dropped below threshold values of 0 to 1.4 kPa, depending on the product, the Fα value immediately and dramatically increased. At the end of the short-term study, O2 was increased above the threshold level, whereupon Fα returned to approximately prestressed values. A 9-month study was undertaken with `Summerland McIntosh' apple fruit to determine if storing the fruit at 0.9 kPa O2, the estimated low O2 threshold value determined from Fα, would benefit or damage fruit quality, compared with threshold + 0.3 kPa (1.2 kPa O2) and the lowest recommended CA (1.5 kPa O2). After 9 months, the threshold treatment (0.9 kPa) had the highest firmness, lowest concentration of fermentation volatiles (ethanol, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate) and lowest total disorders. Sensory rating for off-flavor, flavor and preference indicated no discernible differences among the three treatments.
The effect of ethylene on tuber sprout growth and quality in potato (Solanum tuberosum L. `Russet Burbank') was tested in laboratory and commercial studies for 6 and 3 years, respectively, in comparison with untreated (laboratory study) and CIPC-treated tubers (laboratory and commercial studies). In both studies, ethylene was applied continuously at 166 μmol·m-3 for at least 25 weeks, beginning in early December (laboratory study) or early December to early January (commercial study). In the laboratory study, ethylene delayed the appearance of sprouts for 5 to 15 weeks, compared with untreated tubers. In the ethylene-treated tubers in both studies, sprouts appeared on many eyes but most of them remained very small (<5 mm long). Longer sprouts (>5 mm) appeared after 15 weeks but did not exceed 12 and 59 mm in the laboratory and commercial studies, respectively. Sprouts on ethylene-treated tubers were more easily detached up to 6 weeks after ethylene treatment ended, compared with untreated tubers. In both studies, ethylene treatment was not associated with decay, disorder or internal sprouting problems. In both studies, the Agtron fry color [or U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) color grade] of ethylene-treated tubers was darker than CIPC-treated tubers at almost all sampling times. Continuous exposure to ethylene was an effective sprout control agent but it produced a darker fry color, compared with CIPC-treated potatoes.