Respiration Rate of Sweet Cherries: ‘Burlat’, ‘Sunburst’ and ‘Sweetheart’ Cultivars

Oxygen depletion and CO 2 formation were measured using a closed system method at various temperatures. No CO 2 inhibition effect was observed. Respiration rates were related to O 2 concentration by a simple Michaelis‐Menten equation. Lineweaver‐Burk plots of respiratory rate versus O 2 concentration were nonlinear over the whole O 2 concentration range explored. However, this type of analysis allowed us to differentiate two O 2 concentration intervals (above and below 10%) in which the double reciprocal plots are linear. Respiration rates decreased with decreasing temperature following the Arrhenius law. The Michaelis‐Menten equation constants V m and K m for the 3 cultivars at 2, 5, and 20°C are tabulated.