Storage 



9 - 



isms can be obtained from your Regional Fruit Specialists 



Harvested fruit should be moved into storage no later 

 than 12 to 24 hours after picking. Long delays between 

 harvesting and storage result in greater susceptibility 

 of CA Mcintosh to scald, other senescence disorders, and 

 loss of flesh firmness. 



1. Ideally, apples placed in storage should be cooled from 

 field temperatures to 32°F within 24-36 hours. Rapid 

 cooling of apples following harvest is of major importance 

 in maximizing their marketable life. Rapid removal of 

 the field heat from fruit stored in bins or boxes requires 

 recognition and understanding of proper stacking proce- 

 dures to obtain the best possible rate of heat exchange 

 from fruit in the center of these containers to the cool- 

 ing unit. If an extended period is required to reduce 

 the temperature to 32°F, one can expect a much more rapid 

 deterioration of the fruit from senescence disorders and 

 loss of flesh firmness than would result following fast 

 cooling to 32°F. 



2. When apples are placed in CA storage, we recommend a de- 

 lay in sealing the room until the fruit is cooled to 32°F 

 even though the CA room (as for Mcintosh) will be held 



at 38°F after the room is sealed. However, complete load- 

 ing and proper cooling of an individual CA room should be 

 accomplished in about 2 weeks. Any extension of this per- 

 iod, particularly for Mcintosh, may result in a substan- 

 tial increase in their storage scald susceptibility. Gen- 

 erally, CA storage tends to reduce the scald susceptibil- 

 ity of Mcintosh as compared to similar fruit held in reg- 

 ular storage. However, delaying the sealing and CA at- 

 mosphere development for 3 to 5 weeks beyond the time 

 Mcintosh are initially loaded into a room may make this 

 variety about as susceptible to scald as similar fruit 

 placed in regular cold storage. Of course, if long per- 

 iods of time are required before a CA room for Mcintosh 

 can be sealed, the application of a scald inhibitor is 

 essential . 



3. Since questions are frequently asked concerning the at- 

 mosphere and temperature requirement for CA storage of 

 apples, the following table represents our present recom- 

 mendations. 



