COMMERCIAL STORAGE OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 21 



such as Santa Kosa, Beauty, Wickson, and Duarte; none of them 

 can be expected to remain in good condition even at 32° F. for more 

 than about 2 weeks. After that time they become too soft for com- 

 mercial handling and lose somewhat in flavor. 



The most important commercial shipping and storage variety is 

 the Italian Prune. At a temperature of 32 °^ F., 15 days is about 

 the maximum cold-storage period for this fruit if a shipping period 

 is necessary before the fruit goes on the market. After arrival at 

 market prunes cannot safely be held in cold storage for more than 

 about 3 weeks. If held longer there is danger that internal browning 

 will develop, as well as abnormal odor and flavor. 



QUINCES 

 (Temperature, 31° to 32° F.; relative humidity, 80 to 85 percent) 



The behavior of quinces in storage is about the same as that of early 

 winter varieties of apples such as Jonathan and Grimes Golden. 



RASPBERRIES 



(Temperature, 31° to 32° F.; relative humidity, 80 to 85 percent) 



Fresh raspberries, blackberries, Logan blackberries, and dewber- 

 ries are not adapted to storage and are usually not stored commercially. 

 For short periods, 10 days to 2 weeks, they can be kept in fair condi- 

 tion by storage at 31° to 32° F. in a humidity of about 80 to 85 percent. 

 Young dewberries can be stored satisfactorily for only a short time, 

 rarely for as much as 10 days. 



STRAWBERRIES 



(Temperature, 31° to 32° F.; relative humidity, 80 to 85 percent) 



Fresh strawberries are not stored commercially except for very 

 short periods; 10 days is probably the maximum. Even for so short 

 a time as this the temperature must be kept below 40° F. to prevent 

 loss from decay caused by certain low-temperature fungi such as 

 gray mold and Phytophihora, the fungus which causes leather rot; 

 31° to 32° is still better. After about 10 days, sometimes sooner, the 

 fruit loses its fresh bright color, shrivels more or less, and deterio- 

 rates in flavor. 



DRIED FRUITS 



(Temperature, 32° to 50° F.; relative humidity, 70 to 75 percent) 



Dried fruits, including prunes, raisins, apricots, peaches, and figs 

 are held both in cold storage and in ordinary warehouse storage at 

 temperatures ranging from 32° to 50° F. A relative humidity of 

 60 to 65 percent has been found most satisfactory for the storage of 

 these commodities and is in fact about the degree of humidity which 

 large operators often find has become established automatically in 

 large rooms given over wholly to dried fruits. If stored in a ware- 

 house, the packages of fruit are usually stacked close together to 

 prevent excessive drying out. Dried fruits do not need the ventila- 

 tion required by fresh, living fruits and vegetables. The storage 

 room should not be in a basement because of the danger of too high 

 humidity and the consequent development of mold; in fact, an upper 

 floor is preferable, as such a location is usually drier. The storage 



