Assessment of apple fruits under cold storage

The cold storage of fruits for a long period of time without quantitative and qualitative depreciations is absolutely necessary to supply the market with fresh fruits. This study aimed to investigate the changes in apple fruits during cold storage in order to determine their optimal storage capacity and to know the optimal moment of market sale. Five apple cvs. (‘Rumina’, ‘Rebra’, ‘Rustic’, ‘Generos’ and ‘Florina’) grown in the Genetics and Breeding Department of Research Institute for Fruit Growing Pitesti, Romania were kept in the cold storage at 2-4ºC and 90-95% humidity for 4 months. Before and after storage in cold conditions, the following physical and chemical parameters of fruits were evaluated: weight, color, firmness, soluble solids content and acids content. After 4 months, the fruits weight decreased with 2.45 g. The lowest weight loss was recorded on ‘Rumina’ cv. (1.48 g) and the highest for ‘Rebra’ cv. (3.20 g). At the end of storage period (January) the fruits firmness decreases with 7.74 Bareiss HPE-II FFF units, the best results being recorded on Rumina cv. (loss of firmness by only 5.23 units). Also, after cold storage the taste of the fruits was improved (the soluble solids content increased with 0.29 % Brix and the acid content decreased with 0.22 g/100 g fresh weight). The fruits color has changed gradually during the storage, the fruits being more colorful and attractive.