Early season Wonhwang' pear fruit quality following international transport and storage is negatively impacted by fruitlet stage gibberellic acid(4+7) (GA(4+7)) application but improved by postharvest 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP)

摘要

The popularity and demand of early season Wonhwang' pear fruit are getting increased due to premium fruit quality. However, numerous physiological disorders can be developed after harvest and during short-term storage. The objective of the study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of gibberellic acid(4+7) (GA(4+7)) at fruitlet stage, 1-methylcylcopropene (1-MCP), pre-conditioning, or 1-MCP + pre-conditioning on fruit quality attributes and incidence of physiological disorders in Wonhwang' pears stored at commercial storage facility and then shipped to Taiwan from South Korea. GA(4+7) treatment reduced fresh weight loss but was lowered flesh firmness compared with the other treatments. 1-MCP treatment maintained superior fruit firmness during shelf life relative to other treatments. Soluble solids concentration (SSC) did not differ among treatments. Titratable acidity (TA) was lowest in GA(4+7) treatment but relatively retained in 1-MCP treatment, compared with the other treatments. Lightness (L*) was not affected by treatments among tissues during shelf life but was higher in 1-MCP treatment than in pre-conditioning or GA(4+7) treatments. Peel staining was only detected in GA(4+7) treated fruit. 1-MCP treatment reduced the severity of flesh browning, core browning, water soaking and cavity, compared with the other treatments. Overall, the results suggested that 1-MCP treatment to early season Wonhwang' Asian pears enables the retention of fruit firmness and reduces the severity of physiological disorders for international trading, compared with GA(4+7) or pre-conditioning treatments.