Impact of Cold Storage Temperature and Shelf Life on Ripening Physiology, Quality Attributes, and Nutritional Value in Apricots-Implication of Cultivar

This work aimed to investigate the storability potential of Orange Red and Orange Rubis apricots harvested at commercial maturity stage during cold storage (CS) at 1 or 5 & DEG;C for up to 28 days, followed by shelf life (SL) at 20 & DEG;C for 2 days. The variables evaluated included total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH only at harvest, weight loss (WL), ethylene production rates, peel color, firmness, chilling injury incidence (CI), concentrations of total phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, total antioxidant capacity, b-carotene, b-cryptoxantine, and lutein. The main results showed that storage at 5 & DEG;C resulted in higher WL and CI symptoms than at 1 & DEG;C during both CS and SL, increased ethylene production during CS, whereas there was limited or no effect of CS temperatures on changes in firmness, color, and all antioxidants during CS. Firmness decreased abruptly soon after harvest in Orange Rubis, but progressively in the remaining samples of both cultivars during CS and SL. SL advanced fruit deterioration according to WL, CI, and softening. During SL, ethylene production increased in all samples. Orange Red exhibited higher ethylene rates during SL and antioxidant concentrations throughout CS and SL, by comparison. Conclusively, storage temperature at 1 & DEG;C retained WL, CI, and ethylene production, and both cultivars were marketable up to 21 days CS without SL or up to 14 days CS followed by SL, although Orange Rubis exhibited CI after 14 days, while Orange Red exhibited CI after 21 days of CS.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the storability potential of Orange Red and Orange Rubis apricots during cold storage at either 1℃ or 5℃, followed by shelf life at 20℃. Variables evaluated included various quality parameters and antioxidant concentrations. The main results showed that storage at 5℃ led to higher weight loss and chilling injury symptoms, increased ethylene production, while storage temperature had limited effect on firmness, color, and antioxidants. Orange Red exhibited higher ethylene production rates and antioxidant concentrations. In conclusion, storage at 1℃ retained quality and both cultivars were marketable up to 21 days without shelf life, or up to 14 days with shelf life. However, Orange Rubis showed chilling injury symptoms after 14 days, while Orange Red showed symptoms after 21 days of storage.