Evaluation of Ripening and Fruit Quality of ‘Gala’ and ‘McIntosh’ Apples at Harvest and Following Air Storage

The high quality of ‘Gala’ was confirmed in this investigation. Taste panelists preferred ‘Gala’ over ‘McIntosh’ regardless of harvest date or length of storage. ‘Gala’ was firmer, developed higher soluble solids, and had lower titratable acidity than ‘McIntosh’ but red color and color intensity developed later than ‘McIntosh.’ The time of ripening of ‘Gala,’ relative to ‘McIntosh,’ was not definitively established because of the uncharacteristic pattern of ethylene evolution displayed by ‘Gala.’ The rapid rise in ethylene evolution that characterize many apple fruit entering the climacteric did not occur with ‘Gala.’ Rather, the internal ethylene level rose to 1.5 to 2.5 ppm early in September and remained there for over 4 weeks, after which, it started to rise slowly to over 10 ppm by mid-October. ‘Gala’ lost more weight in storage than ‘McIntosh,’ but the weight loss was reduced considerably by storage in plastic-lined bags.