O. V. Melnik

O. O. Drozd

I. O. Melnyk

Ethylene is a phytohormone responsible for the aging process of plants. The intensity of the ethylene synthesis in climacteric fruits depends on the harvest time and it increases during storage.

The optimal harvesting time affects the quality of apples and duration of cold storage. Early collected fruits do not acquire the proper taste, aroma and are prone to the development of skin browning (scald), and late collected ones are less prone to lesions with physiological disorders, but they actively lose the flesh firmness and are not suitable for sale in supermarkets.

Post-harvest treatment of the apples with 1-methylcyclopropane (1-MCP) slows the induction of endogenous ethylene and blocks the effects of exogenous one, which reduces the intensity of synthesis and hydrolysis processes in the fruits, restricts the occurrence of physiological disorders and fungal diseases and reduces energy consumption during storage (without reducing the quality of products).

The paper studies the influence of the cultivation place, time of harvesting and post-harvest treatment with 1-MCP on the ethylene activity of Reinette Simirenko apples for mass and late harvesting from orchards on the dwarf (M.9) rootstock during storage. Cooled to 5 °C, the fruits were treated with 1-MCP and stored in boxes lined with polyethylene film for up to seven months at a temperature of 2±1 °C and relative humidity of 85–90% (without treatment 1-MCP – control). The intensity of the ethylene emission was periodically measured by the analyzer ICA-56 at a temperature of 18…20 °С.

The article establishes the nature of the process of post-harvest ethylene emission by the apples of a late-winter cv. Reinette Simirenko does not depend significantly on the place of collection. The intensity of this process is lower in fruits of mass collection (without treatment of 1-MCP) from the Center of Ukraine. During storage, ethylene activity of apples from the West was lower by 8.0–16.2%.

The maximum ethylene activity of untreated apples of late collection (11.9 μl/kg x h) is achieved after 20 days of exposure at 20 °C (regardless of the cultivation place), and after 30 days for the fruit of mass collection, the indicator of the latter from the Center is 1.4 times lower than that from the West. A similar trend is observed during a six-month cold storage with a less dynamic increase in the emission of ethylene from the fruit of mass collection from the Center.

Postharvest treatment of 1-MCP dramatically reduces the fruit ethylene activity which, after six months of cold storage does not exceed 0.5 (West) and 0.3 μl/kg x h (Center), and its ethylene activity is 22 times lower compared to untreated fruits. The ethylene activity of recently harvested apples is mainly determined by the time of collection (factor impact is 37.9%), post-harvest treatment with 1-MCP (27.4%) and much less the place of cultivation (2.4%).

After two months of cold storage, the ethylene-activity of the fruits is determined by the harvest time (the impact of the factor is 16.8%), treatment of 1-MCP (52.5%), and after four months and to the end of storage – by postharvest treatment with 1-MCP (88.7–96.5%).

Keywords: Reinette Simirenko, cultivation place, harvest time, ethylene activity, storage, 1-methylcyclopropene, Smart Fresh.

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