Control of superficial scald in stored apples

Abstract

ALTHOUGH superficial scald of apples is effectively controlled by wrapping in paper impregnated with mineral oil the labour involved in doing so renders the method expensive, and the search for alternative methods of control continues. Fidler1 has shown that the view that superficial scald is attributable to an injury to the tissues caused by volatile products of the metabolism of the fruit fails to explain many of the observed phenomena. He has suggested that an interaction between a heavy volatile substance Y which cannot be removed from proximity to the fruit by ventilation and a non-volatile substance X produces a compound or compounds toxic to the skin. Recent observations made during the course of experiments on the control of low-temperature injury would seem to support Fidler's view. © 1959 Nature Publishing Group.