Comparative efficiency of methods for storing apple fruits of the Pink Lady cultivar

Pink Lady apples are in strong demand among consumers due to their excellent taste, aroma, and juiciness. Producers value the cultivar for its high yield, good transportability, and long shelf life. The research aims to study the effectiveness of four existing (NA, NA+1-MCP, ULO, ULO+1-MCP) and two innovative (DСA, DRA+1-MCP) technologies for storing fruits of the commercial Pink Lady apple cultivar to develop a year-round storage system. The study used apple fruits of the 2021 and 2022 crops grown in the Southern Federal District (Stavropol Krai, LLC Sady Stavropolya). The samples under investigation were stored at temperatures of +1 and +3 °C under normal atmosphere (NA: O 2 – 21 %, CO 2 – 0.03 %), controlled atmosphere with ultra-low oxygen (ULO: O 2 – 1.2 %, CO 2 – 1.2 %), and dynamic controlled atmosphere (DCA: O 2 < 0.8 %, CO 2 – 0.8 %) conditions combined with post-harvest treatment with 1-MCP and without it. It was found that fruits with acceptable initial quality exhibited high keeping quality and resistance to many physiological disorders and fungal diseases even during long-term storage (8 months or more). The set of recommended storage methods for Pink Lady cultivar fruits ensures the preservation of high-quality apples for 2.5–3 months (NA), 3–5 months (NA+1-MCP), 8–9 months (ULO), 9–10 months (DCA). The elimination of external (skin greasiness, superficial scald) as well as internal diseases and damage, the preservation of consistently high firmness and other organoleptic characteristics (juiciness, freshness, taste, and aroma) after long-term (8 months or more) storage of fruits indicates the prospects of the DCA method regarding the studied cultivar. Moreover, the possibility of storing fruit at higher temperatures and the elimination of additional chemical loading in the form of 1-MCP without loss of quality increase the attractiveness of this method for both producers and consumers.