Resumen

CONTRERAS, Carolina; ZOFFOLI, Juan Pablo; ALCALDE, José Antonio  y  AYALA, Marlene. Evolution of sunburn damage on 'Granny Smith' apples during storage. Cienc. Inv. Agr. [online]. 2008, vol.35, n.2, pp. 147-157. ISSN 0718-1620.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-16202008000200004.

Sunburn is one of the major physiological disorders affecting fruit quality at harvest. The objective of this work was to study the effect of sunburn on the quality of Granny Smith apples during cold storage at 0°C. Therefore, 'Granny Smith' apples with light, modérate, or severe sunburn damage were stored for three and six months at 0°C plus 15 days at 20°C. After harvest, the apples were treated with diphenylamine (DPA, 2,000/¿g-L/¹) or 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP, 625 nLL') to reduce scald (the physiological disorder), and an equal number of non-treated apples were used as controls. The concentration of conjugated trienes (CTs) was determined and compared between the apparently healthy and damaged side of the same fruits. Sunscald, characterized by brown skin tissue, developed on the sunburnt side of the fruit, and superficial and senescent scald symptoms developed on the healthy side of the apple. A significant and negative relationship between sunscald and scald were obtained in fruit treated with DPA. A low concentration of CT 281 was found on the sunburnt side of apples treated with DPA and 1-MCP. Application of 1-MCP and DPA controlled scald but not sunscald. DPA treatment resulted in better control of scald after 6 months of storage on fruit with modérate sunburn damage at the time of harvest.

Palabras clave : Conjugated trienes; DPA; Malus; sunburn; sunscald; superficial scald; 1-methylcyclopropene.