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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wenatchee, Washington » Physiology and Pathology of Tree Fruits Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #297802
Title: Interactions between 1-MCP and controlled atmospheres on quality and storage disorders of fruits and vegetable

Author
item WATKINS, C - Cornell University
item GAPPER, N - Cornell University
item NOCK, J - Cornell University
item Rudell, David
item Leisso, Rachel
item Lee, Jinwook
item Buchanan, David
item Mattheis, James
item JOHNSTON, J - Plant And Food Research
item SCHAFFER, R - Plant And Food Research
item Giovannoni, James
item HERTOG, M - Katholieke University
item NICOLAI, B - Katholieke University

Submitted to: Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/2013
Publication Date: 5/25/2014
Citation: Watkins, C.B., Gapper, N.E., Nock, J.F., Rudell Jr, D.R., Leisso, R.S., Lee, J., Buchanan, D.A., Mattheis, J.P., Johnston, J., Schaffer, R., Giovannoni, J.J., Hertog, M.L., Nicolai, B.M. 2014. Interactions between 1-MCP and controlled atmospheres on quality and storage disorders of fruits and vegetable. Acta Horticulturae. doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1071.3.

Interpretive Summary: 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment of apple is used by industry to better retain optimum quality and reduce storage loss. It can be applied after harvest in storage prior to establishing low oxygen (controlled atmosphere) to block the action of a natural plant growth regulator that triggers fruit to ripen. 1-MCP not only reduces ripening, it also reduces losses caused by a certain postharvest browning disorder. However, it can enhance the sensitivity to develop other types of postharvest browning disorders in other apple varieties. Tests are currently being cooperatively developed, in a project managed by ARS, to develop tools that assess risk of developing these disorders during storage. It is expected that risk assessment tools can be used for storage management to mitigate losses by more effectively targeting postharvest storage regimes, such as 1-MCP treatment, and managing inventory to market high-risk apples earlier if tools indicate high risk.

Technical Abstract: The use of 1-methycyclopropene (1-MCP) to maintain quality attributes of horticultural products has been investigated extensively. Commercial applications of 1-MCP (SmartFreshTM), are made to a range of horticultural crops, including avocados, bananas, melons, persimmons and tomatoes, but the majority of 1-MCP use is for apples. Apples are commonly kept in controlled atmosphere (CA) storage, and while 1-MCP can maintain the quality of fruit in air, the most consistent responses to 1-MCP are obtained when 1-MCP treated fruit are maintained in CA. An interesting feature of 1-MCP is the extent to which its use has revealed the interactions between ethylene production and the development of physiological storage disorders in a variety of fruits and vegetables. This has been especially true for apples because of their susceptibility to a wide range of disorders arising at least in part because of the extended storage periods routinely used. Here we review the effects of 1-MCP on quality and physiological disorders of fruits and vegetables, including studies on the interactions of 1-MCP with CA and modified atmosphere (MA) storage. We also present an overview of an international project on genomics and metabolomics concerning interactions between external carbon dioxide injury and flesh browning in CA stored apple fruit.