Research Of The Status Of Apple Physiological Damage During Storage In Shaanxi Province

Postharvest losses of apple are caused by various diseases during storage. Due todifferences of facilities and management level, the disease incidence and severity aredifferent. This research aims to ascertain the main categoties and causes of the diseaseshaving a greater effect on apple industry. Six representative cold storages and air-conditionedcold storages of different storage capacities were chosen in Luochuan, Bai shui and Xunyi.From March2013to February2014, the fruit core temperature, fruit hardness and solublesolid content of ‘Fuji’ apple were measured periodical and the incidence of physiologicaldiseases were counted periodical. The methods of fixed point survey, general survey,consulting literature, visiting and counting production status were used to investigate storagetime of apple fruit, storage management and orchard management. The conclusions are asfollows:1. The weather, orchard management and storage management influence fruit quality. Atthe beginning and ending of the storage, the fruit hardness and soluble solid content of appleare the highest in Luochuan and the lowest in Xunyi, Baishui takes the second place. At theending of the storage, the decreasing rate of fruit hardness and soluble solid content of theapple is higher in Xunyi and lower in Luochuan and Baishui. The decreasing rate of fruithardness and soluble solid content of the apple in three counties is higher in late storage thanearly storage.2. The status quo of physical diseases during storage in three counties were investigated.The result shows that the main physiological diseases during the storage in three countiesinclude superficial scald, freezing injury, carbon dioxide injury and bitter pit. Superficialscald occurred in the middle and later periods of the storage and was the most typical inXunyi. Freezing injury and carbon dioxide injury occurred to varying degrees in every stageof the storage and were the most typical in Luochuan. Bitter pit occurred in the prometaphaseof the storage and was the most serious in Baishui. 3. Orchard management in three counties were investigated. The result shows thatLuochuan is finer in orchard management than Baishui and Xunyi, Xunyi is the worst. Thethree counties also adopted combined application of organic fertilizer and compound fertilizer.Relatively, application amount of organic fertilizer and compound fertilizer is the maximumin Luochuan, but the minimum in Xunyi, Baishui is the second. The three counties apply lessorganic fertilizer and calcium fertilizer, excessive nitrogen fertilizer. Plastic bags were used inXunyi, impacting on fruit coloring and resulting in the occurrence of bitter pit and superficialscald during storage.4. Storage management in three counties were investigated. The result shows that thelong time interval from fruit harvest to storage, the lack of formal precooling, narrowstacking distance, low temperature and temperature fluctuation caused all kinds ofphysiological disorders. The long time interval from fruit harvest to storage and temperaturefluctuation caused superficial scald. Freezing injury was caused by unsuited fruit coretemperature (-1.75℃～-1.88℃) below the fruit freezing point. Carbon dioxide injury wascaused by High CO2concentration (three percent). The incidence rates of carbon dioxideinjury were higher in controlled atmosphere storage than cold storage. The lack of formalprecooling and narrow stacking distance lead to high or low local temperature andaccumulation of the harmful gas such as ethylene, α-farnesene, formaldehyde and carbondioxide. High or low local temperature and accumulation of the harmful gas such as ethyleneand carbon dioxide induce occurrence of superficial scald, freezing injury and carbon dioxideinjury.