CONFIDENTIAL

Preliminary results on the effect of ACR on the storage

quality of Golden Delicious, Packhams Triumph and
Granny Smith during the 2016 season

Compiled by Ms Anl Botes for Ammonia Refrigeration Engineering

CONFIDENTIAL

1. OBJECTIVE
Determine the effect of ACR (advanced control of respiration) on the post storage quality of
Golden Delicious, Packhamss Triumph and Granny Smith.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Treatments

Area
o

Ceres

Cultivars
o

Golden Delicious (CA14 and CA16)

Packhams Triumph (CA10)

Granny Smith (CA15)

Treatments
o

ACR

RA (6wk CA plus RA rest of the storage period)

Storage period (from start of loading of room)

o

Golden Delicious (CA14)

Golden Delicious (CA16)

23wk, 26wk

Shipment period
o

12wk, 21wk, 25wk

Granny Smith

11wk, 20wk, 24wk

Packhams Triumph

13wk, 21wk, 25wk

6 weeks RA

Shelf life periods

o

0 and 7 days at 20C

2.2 Fruit quality assessment

The fruit was stored in commercial CA rooms at Graaff Fruit and the gas regimes and
RQ values were determined by ARE. Only the storage of the simulated shipment and
shelf-life period was done at the ARC.

Fruit quality evaluations were done on fruit that was delivered by ARE.

Fruit quality parameters

CONFIDENTIAL
o

A sample of ten fruit per replicate was used for quality measurements.

Skin colour (scale 1-5) was measured: Colour charts with a scale ranging
from 1 to 5 were used. A value of 1 represented a dark green skin colour,
while 5 represented a yellow skin colour. Skin colour was determined by
using a Konica Minolta Colour Meter which was correlated with colour on the
colour chart.

Firmness (kg): Firmness was determined with a computerised fruit texture

analyser (penetrometer) using a plunger with a diameter of 11 mm where a
piece of skin approximately 15 mm in diameter is removed from two opposite
sides of the fruit.

Total soluble solids (TSS, %): TSS was determined with a calibrated
refractometer.

Titratable acidity (TTA, g/100g juice): Fourty six ml of a representative juice

sample was titrated with a 0.33 N sodium hydroxide solution to a pH of 8.2.

Internal defects (% of 10 fruit)

External defects (% of total fruit in lug) and decay (% of total fruit in lug)

Appearance, taste and texture (score 1-10; 1-poor and 10-excellent)

2.3 Statistical design and analysis

The experimental design was a completely randomised design with four replications and two
treatments with two shelf-life levels. A lug (with 70-90 fruit) constitute an experimental unit.
The categorical/ordinal data of appearance, texture and taste were subjected to a chi
squared test using Frequency Procedure (PROC FREQ) of SAS statistical software version
9.2 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). The continuous data of skin colour, TSS, TTA,
firmness, decay and superficial scald were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using
the General Linear Models Procedure (PROC GLM) of SAS software. Shapiro-Wilk test was
performed on the standardized residuals from the model to test for normality. Fishers least
significant difference was calculated at the 5% level to compare treatment means. A
probability level of 5% was considered significant for all significance tests.

CONFIDENTIAL

3. RESULTS
All results are shown in Tables 1-3 and Figures 1-3. Only results with significant
differences will be discussed.

3.1 Golden Delicious (CA14)

No superficial scald was observed after any of the shelf-life periods for any of the two
treatments. The only observation was a greyish-brown discoloration on the skin of the RA
fruit (Picture 1). There was a significant 3-way interaction between treatment, storage period
and shelf-life for skin colour (Table 1). Fruit stored under ACR had significantly better skin
colour retention than fruit stored under RA. There was no significant decrease in firmness on
the fruit stored under ACR until 21wk (5 months). The ACR fruit was firmer than the RA fruit.
3.2 Golden Delicious (CA16)
No superficial scald was observed after any of the shelf-life periods for any of the two
treatments. Fruit stored under ACR tended to be firmer than fruit stored under RA, with the
only significance being after 24wk (Fig. 2A). The ACR treatment resulted in fruit with a better
skin colour retention (Fig. 2B).
3.3 Packhams Triumph
The RA fruit had significantly more superficial scald than the ACR fruit at storage periods of
21wk and longer (Fig. 3). The ACR fruit was scald-free. Sunburn was observed on all
treatments during long storage periods (>5 months). There was a significant 3-way
interaction between treatment, storage period and shelf-life for firmness (Table 3). The ACR
fruit was firmer than the RA fruit after no shelf-life, but after 7-day shelf-life there was no
difference in firmness between the treatments except for the 25wk period after which the RA
fruit was firmer.

3.4 Granny Smith

Results will be discussed in the final report. Fruit evaluations are still in progress.

4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

ACR treatments on Golden Delicious (2 rooms) and Packhams Triumph resulted in scaldfree fruit. This is however only one years data and it is recommended to repeat the trial
including more long term storage periods.

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL
Table 1. Fruit quality parameters for Golden Delicious apples (CA14) from Ceres after storage in 2016 season.
Storage
Shelf-life
Treatment

Skin colour

Firmness

TSS

TTA

period

Appearance

Taste

Texture

(weeks)

(days)

(scale 1-5)

(kg)

(% )

(g/100g)

ACR

13

2.72 d

8.00 bc

15.1 a

0.90 c-e

5.5

RA

13

3.02 bc

7.90 cd

14.8 ab

0.89 c-e

ACR

13

2.60 e

8.30 a

15.0 ab

0.82 ef

6.5

RA

13

3.13 ab

7.51 ef

14.5 b

0.78 f

ACR

21

2.44 f

8.31 a

14.9 ab

0.97 bc

6.5

RA

21

3.20 a

7.60 ef

14.9 ab

0.87 d-f

6.5

5.5

6.5

ACR

21

2.23 g

8.26 ab

15.1 a

0.94 b-d

6.5

RA

21

3.08 bc

7.21 g

14.8 ab

0.77 fg

5.5

6.5

ACR

25

2.15 g

7.35 fg

15.0 ab

1.16 a

RA

25

2.83 d

7.18 g

14.8 ab

0.84 ef

5.5

ACR

25

2.43 f

7.67 de

15.3 a

1.01 b

RA

25

3.01 c

7.09 g

14.8 ab

0.68 g

5.5

5.5

6.5

LSD (p<0.05)

0.12

0.29

0.53

0.09

P>F

0.023

0.416

0.998

0.723

<0.0001

<0.0001

<0.0001

Scale of 1 to 10: 10-very good, 5-average, 1-very poor (for appearance, taste and texture)

CONFIDENTIAL
Table 2. Fruit quality parameters for Golden Delicious apples (CA16) from Ceres after storage in 2016 season.
Storage
Shelf-life
Treatment

Skin colour

Firmness

TSS

TTA

period

Decay

Appearance

Taste

Texture

(weeks)

(days)

(scale 1-5)

(kg)

(% )

(g/100g)

(% )

ACR

11

2.77 c-e

7.55 c-e

16.1 a-c

0.82 a-c

0c

RA

11

2.91 ab

7.73 b-e

16.0 a-c

0.85 a-c

0c

ACR

11

2.65 ef

7.49 c-e

16.1 a-c

0.80 bc

0c

6.25

RA

11

2.80 b-d

7.36 de

15.4 c

0.87 a-c

0c

6.5

ACR

20

2.42 hi

7.85 a-c

16.1 a-c

0.89 a

0c

5.25

6.5

RA

20

2.97 a

7.63 b-e

16.0 a-c

0.83 a-c

0c

6.5

5.5

6.5

ACR

20

2.31 i

7.77 a-d

16.2 a-c

0.84 a-c

0c

5.25

6.5

RA

20

2.83 bc

7.45 c-e

15.8 bc

0.71 d

6.25 a

5.5

ACR

24

2.47 gh

8.20 a

16.4 ab

0.88 ab

0c

6.5

RA

24

2.67 d-f

7.30 e

15.8 bc

0.69 d

0.25 c

5.5

ACR

24

2.58 fg

8.05 ab

16.7 a

0.80 c

0c

6.5

RA

24

2.91 ab

7.51 c-e

15.7 bc

0.64 d

3.25 b

5.5

LSD (p<0.05)

0.14

0.46

0.82

0.08

1.11

P>F

0.436

0.314

0.913

0.308

<0.0001

<0.0001

<0.0001

<0.0001

Scale of 1 to 10: 10-very good, 5-average, 1-very poor (for appearance, taste and texture)

CONFIDENTIAL
Table 3. Fruit quality parameters for Packhams Triumph pears (CA10) from Ceres after storage in 2016 season.
Storage
Shelf-life
Treatment

Skin colour

Firmness

TSS

TTA

Decay

period

Appearance

Taste

Texture

(weeks)

(days)

(scale 1-5)

(kg)

(% )

(g/100g)

(% )

ACR

12

2.30 ef

5.57 ab

15.7 cd

0.41 a-c

0b

RA

12

2.47 de

5.72 a

15.5 cd

0.38 b-d

0b

ACR

12

2.84 a

0.98 de

16.1 b-d

0.35 d-f

0b

6.5

6.5

RA

12

2.74 ab

0.85 ef

15.9 cd

0.32 ef

0b

6.5

ACR

21

2.07 g

5.65 a

16.3 a-d

0.43 ab

0b

7.5

5.5

RA

21

2.52 cd

5.46 b

15.5 d

0.40 a-c

5.0 b

ACR

21

2.64 bc

0.75 f

16.7 a-c

0.39 b-d

24.47 a

5.5

RA

21

2.78 ab

0.94 d-f

16.3 a-d

0.30 f

8.17 b

5.5

ACR

25

1.83 h

5.65 a

17.3 a

0.46 a

0b

6.5

RA

25

2.29 f

4.74 c

15.6 cd

0.36 c-e

2.13 b

6.5

6.5

ACR

25

2.48 cd

0.79 ef

17.2 ab

0.36 c-e

8.12 b

RA

25

2.77 ab

1.11 d

15.3 d

0.31 f

4.98 b

6.5

LSD (p<0.05)

0.16

0.19

1.19

0.05

14.30

P>F

0.664

<0.0001

0.876

0.142

0.290

<0.0001

<0.0001

<0.0001

Scale of 1 to 10: 10-very good, 5-average, 1-very poor (for appearance, taste and texture)

CONFIDENTIAL

Figure 1. Effect of ACR on the firmness of Golden Delicious (CA14) from the Ceres production
area after storage in 2016 season.
A

Figure 2. Effect of ACR on the firmness (A) and skin colour (B) for Golden Delicious (CA16) from
the Ceres production area after storage in 2016 season.

Figure 3. Effect of ACR on superficial scald development for Packhams Triumph from the Ceres
production area after 7-day shelf-life in 2016 season.

CONFIDENTIAL

Picture 1. Grey-brown discolouration observed on RA fruit of Golden Delicious from Ceres.

Picture 2. Physiological disorders observed on Packhams Triumph from Ceres. Superficial scald
on RA fruit (left) and Sunburn (right).