FARM STORAGES FOR NEW ENGLAND APPLES 



By C. I. Gunness, Professor of Engineering; W. R. Cole, Extension Specialist 



in Horticultural Manufactures; and O. C. Roberts, 



Assistant Professor of Pomology 



THE FUNCTION OF STORAGE 



Storage is one of the most important factors in the orderly distribution of 

 the apple crop. If no apples were stored, all would go to market at harvest 

 time and none would bring satisfactory prices. Stored apples may be marketed 

 in such a way as to stabilize supply and prices, and usually sell at prices higher 

 than those which prevail at harvest time or soon after. 



Consumers are now demanding high quality apples, such as the Mcintosh, 

 over a period of five months or more. Storages are needed in order to hold these 

 apples in a sound condition from the time of harvest until they are offered for 

 sale. 



What Storage Does to an Apple 



An apple grows as a part of a living organism — the tree. Before harvest it 

 continues to receive materials from the tree and the net result of these life proc- 

 esses is growth and increased weight. After removal from the tree, life must be 

 sustained on food stored in the apple. Life processes are destructive, and when 

 they have run their course, the apple dies. This natural breakdown of the apple 

 is marked by a gradual darkening of the flesh beginning at the core, and may 

 occur without rotting. Frequently, decay organisms attack the apple and it 

 rots before its food reserves are completely exhausted. 



The changes that take place within the apple are the result of chemical reac- 

 tions. The important constituents affecting the quality of an apple are starch, 

 sugars, acids, tannins, pectins, and esters which are compounds responsible for 

 the characteristic odor and flavor of a particular variety. Quality in an apple 

 depends chiefly upon the proportions of sugars and acids. Prior to harvest, an 

 apple contains a relatively large quantity of starches. In the process of ripening, 

 the starches change to sugars and the acids and tannins diminish, thus making 

 the apple more agreeable to eat. Changes in the character of the pectins are 

 believed to be responsible for the "mealy" or granular condition of the flesh as 

 apples become overripe. Chemical changes within the apple are accompanied 

 by the utilization of oxygen and the evolution of carbon dioxide. This process 

 is known as respiration and is a measure of the speed of ripening. These chemical 

 changes are hastened by heat and retarded by cold. If left in the orchard, an 

 apple may reach its maximum quality for human consumption in early autumn. 

 If exposed to low temperatures before that maximum is reached, development 

 may be retarded and a condition of prime eating quality reached in February 

 or March instead of September or October. This is the function of storage. No 

 method has yet been discovered by which life processes in an apple may be stopped 

 and the apple held indefinitely at one stage of development without killing it. 

 The progression must go on, but efficient storage slows it down to a marked 

 degree. 



