Deterioration of apples in storage may be in the form of rot, scald, 

 softening, shriveling, or other types of physical breakdown. Vari- 

 eties show these changes in different degrees. When present, such 

 defects cause lowered consumer acceptance, resulting in total rejection 

 or markdowns and thus greater economic loss than actual percentage 

 deterioration would indicate. 



Changes in consumer quality of apples resulting from household 

 storage are important because of the variation in harvest quality of 

 apples obtained from home or local farm orchards and the length of 

 time most apples are held. Information as to eating and cooking 

 qualities of mature and immature apples of each of the major varieties 

 related to the storage properties, should be helpful to consumers in 

 their selection of apples for specific uses. 



This study was planned to determine the cooking and eating 

 qualities of several apple varieties important in the total supply and 

 to determine the relation of these properties to selected physical, 

 histological, and chemical characteristics. 



Such information may serve as a guide in predicting eating and 

 cooking qualities and may be used as a basis for recommended prac- 

 tices in procurement, use, or method of preparation for each variety. 

 Knowledge of histological structure and chemical composition as 

 related to palatability may serve as a guide to the plant breeder in his 

 propagation of desirable characteristics in apples. 



REVIEW OF LITERATURE 



The recommended storage condition for most apple varieties is a 

 temperature of 30° to 32° F. with a relative humidity of 85 to 90 

 percent. At this low temperature, ripening of the fruit is delayed and 

 chemical changes proceed at a slower rate (13, 53). The conditions of 

 low temperature and high humidity recommended for apple storage can 

 be provided commercially. In contrast to this, apples stored at home 

 seldom are kept under ideal conditions. Temperatures around 40° 

 with no humidity control may more closely approximate household 

 storage conditions. 



The wilting and softening of different varieties of apples during 

 storage has been studied in relation to the extent of cutinization and 

 skin thickness, as well as the average size of cortex cells. Less wilting 

 during storage was observed by Magness and Burroughs (24) for the 

 thickskinned Delicious, Rome Beauty, and Winesap varieties com- 

 pared with thinner skinned varieties. Cummings and Lombard (10) 

 observed that apples having small cells together with thicker skins 

 were better keepers. On the other hand, Smith (40), after a study of 

 two English varieties, stated that apples with thinner cuticle and 

 larger cells kept better. Perry and Martin (32) reported a direct 

 relation between thickness of the cuticle and records of keeping 

 quality of different varieties of apples. Clements (9) showed that 

 exchange of gases and transpiration of water occurred chiefly through 

 the cuticle rather than through the lenticels. Pieniazek (34) believed 

 that thickness of the cuticle alone was not a factor, but that the 

 amount of wax on the cuticle regulated the rate of gas and moisture 

 exchange to a large extent. The rate was greater in apples with 

 large areas of russet. 



In addition to the development of visible defects, apples undergo 

 internal chemical and physical changes during storage. These changes 



