Evaluation of Quality Change Kinetics During Cold Storage and Shelf-Life Storage of Apple cv. Irene

Apple firmness, soluble solids content (SSC), and titratable acidity (TTA) were modeled when fruit were kept under cold storage and shelf-life conditions. These attributes are key indicators of fruit quality, storability, and organoleptic properties. Apple fruit of the ‘Irene’ cultivar were stored at 1 °C for 7 months, with quality assessed monthly and after 7 days of shelf life. Models based on the Storage Time Equivalent Value (STEV) were applied to predict firmness, SSC, and TTA as functions of time in cold storage and shelf life. Rates of change were higher during shelf life, with acceleration factors of 5.78 for firmness, 6.50 for SSC, and 5.51 for TTA. Model performance was high (R2CV = 0.977, RMSECV = 1.16 N for firmness; R2CV = 0.862, RMSECV = 0.29 °Brix for SSC; R2CV = 0.978, RMSECV = 0.155 g L−1 for TTA). The proposed approach integrates cold storage and shelf life into a single predictive framework. The unified STEV models, incorporating acceleration factors, show potential for forecasting the shelf life of ‘Irene’ apples.