Optimization of technological methods that help improve the color of the fruits of the Pink Lady apple tree

Abstract

Technological methods were studied to accelerate the ripening of fruits of the late Pink Lady variety to reduce the damage to fruits by a physiological disease - “tanning” during storage in the conditions of JSC Yubileinoye, Krasnodar Territory. Records and observations were carried out according to generally accepted methods. It was found that the content of anthocyanins in the skin of fruits was increased by 2.0 times when using a defoliator, and 3.2 times when using a defoliator and reflective film together, while the anthocyanin content was 50.3 mg% (in the control - 15. mg%). A 3.8 times higher efficiency in enhancing color, even on fruits located in the lower part of the crown (anthocyanin content 58.4 mg%), was observed with additional pre-harvest treatment 7 days before the intended harvest with the growth regulator HEFC, the active ingredient of which is 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid. Considering that the drug HEFC causes accelerated ripening of fruits, before storing fruits, post-harvest treatment with an ethylene inhibitor, a drug based on 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), which is widely used nowadays, was carried out, allowing after 5 months of storage in refrigerated conditions of normal atmosphere (OA), it is better to maintain the hardness of the pulp (8.6 kg/cm²), reduce the efficiency of ethylene release (0.52 ppm), the consumption of nutrients during fruit storage, as well asthe level of accumulation of farnesene (4.59 µm/cm²) and slow down the rate of its transition to oxidized forms (0.32 µm/cm²), which is associated with the development of “tanning” on the skin of the fruit.