Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage

Development of poor red blush on the surface of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) fruit at commercial harvest is one of the major limiting factors for theirexport. Ethylene has been reported to directly affect accumulation of red pigments and development of red blush in many fruit crops including app...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Singh, Zora, Shafiq, Muhammad
Other Authors: A D Webster
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Intenational Society of Horticultral Science 2008
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20793
_version_ 1848750408341651456
author Singh, Zora
Shafiq, Muhammad
author2 A D Webster
author_facet A D Webster
Singh, Zora
Shafiq, Muhammad
author_sort Singh, Zora
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Development of poor red blush on the surface of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) fruit at commercial harvest is one of the major limiting factors for theirexport. Ethylene has been reported to directly affect accumulation of red pigments and development of red blush in many fruit crops including apple. The efficacy of an ethylene releasing compound – ethrel (ethephon) for the improvement of red blush of ‘Pink Lady’ apple fruit from the trees trained as vase (VS), central leader (CL), spindle bush (SB) and double row (DR) systems, was investigated at harvest in 2005. The influence of ethrel treatment on important quality parameters such as fruit firmness, soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA) was also studied at harvest and following 190 days controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. Pre-harvest ethrel spray significantly increased the concentrations of total anthocyanin and cyanidin 3-galactoside in the fruit skin and improved red blush and chromaticity values a*, C* and h° of the fruit colour at commercial harvest, irrespective of the training systems. Ethrel treatment increased the concentration of total anthocyanin nearly two fold in the skin of the exposed side (ES) of the fruit from the trees trainedas SB, compared to control. There were no significant differences in fruit firmness, SSC or TA of the fruit harvested from ethrel-treated and control trees trained on any of the systems, at commercial harvest. Following 190 days CA storage, ethrel treatment slightly increased SSC and TA of the fruit compared to control, whereas fruit firmness was not consistently influenced by ethrel treatment. In conclusion, preharvest ethrel spray application improves the development of red blush in ‘Pink Lady’ apple fruit at commercial harvest irrespective of training system without adversely affecting fruit quality at harvest or following 190 days CA storage.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:36:21Z
format Conference Paper
id curtin-20.500.11937-20793
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:36:21Z
publishDate 2008
publisher Intenational Society of Horticultral Science
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-207932022-11-21T06:47:06Z Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage Singh, Zora Shafiq, Muhammad A D Webster J M Lee Development of poor red blush on the surface of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) fruit at commercial harvest is one of the major limiting factors for theirexport. Ethylene has been reported to directly affect accumulation of red pigments and development of red blush in many fruit crops including apple. The efficacy of an ethylene releasing compound – ethrel (ethephon) for the improvement of red blush of ‘Pink Lady’ apple fruit from the trees trained as vase (VS), central leader (CL), spindle bush (SB) and double row (DR) systems, was investigated at harvest in 2005. The influence of ethrel treatment on important quality parameters such as fruit firmness, soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA) was also studied at harvest and following 190 days controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. Pre-harvest ethrel spray significantly increased the concentrations of total anthocyanin and cyanidin 3-galactoside in the fruit skin and improved red blush and chromaticity values a*, C* and h° of the fruit colour at commercial harvest, irrespective of the training systems. Ethrel treatment increased the concentration of total anthocyanin nearly two fold in the skin of the exposed side (ES) of the fruit from the trees trainedas SB, compared to control. There were no significant differences in fruit firmness, SSC or TA of the fruit harvested from ethrel-treated and control trees trained on any of the systems, at commercial harvest. Following 190 days CA storage, ethrel treatment slightly increased SSC and TA of the fruit compared to control, whereas fruit firmness was not consistently influenced by ethrel treatment. In conclusion, preharvest ethrel spray application improves the development of red blush in ‘Pink Lady’ apple fruit at commercial harvest irrespective of training system without adversely affecting fruit quality at harvest or following 190 days CA storage. 2008 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20793 Intenational Society of Horticultral Science restricted
spellingShingle Singh, Zora
Shafiq, Muhammad
Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage
title Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage
title_full Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage
title_fullStr Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage
title_full_unstemmed Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage
title_short Training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'Pink Lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage
title_sort training systems and pre-harvest ethrel application affect fruit colour development and quality of 'pink lady' apple at harvest and in controlled atmosphere storage
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20793