INTERNAL BROWNING OF YELLOW NEWTOWN APPLE. 11 



During the fall of 1920 duplicate boxes of fruit were picked from 

 each of 12 trees. One box from each tree was stored at 38° F. and the 

 other at a temperature that fluctuated somewhat but averaged about 

 31°. At the time the fruit was stored the temperature was somewhat 

 below 31°, but was raised until by the time the inspection was made 

 in March it was about 33° F. The average represents about the tem- 

 perature at which apples are usually held in cold storage at points 

 outside of California. Table 3 gives in detail for each tree the per- 

 centage of browning of fruit in the 38° storage and that at 31° F. 



From an examination of the data presented in Table 3 it is at once 

 apparent that whereas very bad internal browning had developed in 

 fruit held at 31° there was very little in that held at 38° F. As was 

 noted in describing the browning, fruit listed as " trace," whether 

 tissue or core, shows so little discoloration that it is practically negli- 

 gible from the commercial viewpoint. Medium and bad core brown- 

 ing represent discoloration about the core that detracts from the value 

 of the fruit. The medium and bad tissue browning represent marked 

 discoloration throughout the flesh of the fruit outside the core line 

 and may render the fruit practically unsalable. Of the fruit held 

 at 31° F. more than 46 per cent was in these last two classes, while less 

 than 2 per cent of that held at 38° showed this degree of browning. 

 It is obvious from the data presented that if the commercial fruit 

 from the Pajaro Valley stored during the season of 1920-21 had been 

 kept at the 30° to 32° F. temperatures used for apples in most sec- 

 tions of the country the loss would have been very severe. For- 

 tunately, most of it was held at 36° to 38° F., so that the discoloration 

 was not sufficient to affect seriously the marketability of the fruit. 



Of special interest to the commercial industry is the question of 

 the development of the internal browning upon the removal of the 

 fruit from cold storage. A certain period must necessarily elapse 

 between the time of removal of the fruit from cold storage and its 

 ultimate consumption. In practically all these investigations an 

 inspection was made at the time the fruit was withdrawn from 

 storage and another after the fruit had remained out of storage for 

 10 days. As has been mentioned, half of each box was cut at the first 

 inspection and the remaining half at the second, so the results are 

 very closely comparable. A summary of the data is presented in 

 Table 4. 



