Sprayable 1-MCP Effects on Maturity and Quality of Apple Fruit at Harvest and After Storage: The New York Experience

Abstract

A sprayable formulation of 1-MCP (250 μL·L -1 ) and 1% oil adjuvant was applied to `McIntosh' and `Empire' apple trees 24, 14, and 7 days prior to anticipated optimum harvest dates (early, mid-, and late-spray timings, respectively), and fruit harvested sequentially over 2 to 3 weeks from this date. At harvest, internal ethylene concentrations (IEC), percentage of blush, starch indices, firmness, and soluble solids concentration (SSC) were measured, as well as ethylene production of fruit maintained for 7 days at 20 °C. Additional fruit were stored in air (0.5 °C) with or without postharvest 1-MCP treatment. Preharvest drop of `McIntosh' apples was also measured. Quality of these fruit was assessed at intervals for up to 4.5 months (`McIntosh') or 6 months (`Empire'). All spray timing resulted in marked delays of preharvest drop. For both cultivars, increases of IEC were inhibited or delayed by sprayable 1-MCP treatment, but effects on other maturity and quality factors were small. Ethylene production of treated fruit was lower than that of untreated fruit. The effects of sprayable 1-MCP on IEC and firmness were maintained during storage, but the longetivity of these effects was affected by cultivar, spray timing, and storage period. Postharvest application of 1-MCP further inhibited IEC and maintained firmness of the fruit during storage. These experiments show that sprayable 1-MCP may be a valuable tool to manipulate both pre- and postharvest responses of apple fruit. However, with the formulation used in these experiments, phytotoxicity, primarily as damage around lenticel areas, was observed at harvest indicating that further development of the formulation is necessary for industry use.