The northern hemisphere is entering its peak season for apples. With the increasing living standards of consumers, people have higher requirements for fruit quality and freshness. The quality and freshness of fruit directly affect the profitability of merchants, which also makes apple traders pay more attention to product quality. Recently, Mr. Wang, the person in charge of Shandong Aoweit Biotechnology Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of cold storage preservatives, shared with us some suggestions on the preservation of apples.
Mr. Wang first introduced the factors that affect the freshness of apples. "The key factor to maintaining apple nutrition and freshness is to control the ripening and aging of apples. Temperature and oxygen accelerate the ripening process. The fungal spores on the skin of apples under high humidity are prone to germination and cause rot. When the air humidity is too low, the fruit will lose water and shrink.
"To maximize the storage time on the premise and ensuring the quality of the fruit, the following conditions should be met. First, the fruit should be healthy, intact, and harvested at its best. On this basis, during post-harvest management of fruits, it is necessary to strictly control the temperature and humidity of the cold storage, as well as the gas composition, so as to minimize the respiration of the fruits themselves,” said Mr. Wang.
"Whether it is stored in cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage, as long as the activity of ethylene is well controlled, the storage period of apples can be extended by 3 months on the basis of maintaining nutrition, hardness, and taste."
“Ethylene is a gas hormone. Ripe tissues release less ethylene, whereas meristems, germinating seeds, fading flowers, and ripening fruit produce more ethylene. Ethylene promotes the synthesis of RNA and protein, accelerates respiration, promotes the transformation of organic matter, and accelerates maturation”, said Mr. Wang.
“1-MCP is a competitive inhibitor of ethylene. It can pre-empt the binding of ethylene receptors and prevent the binding of ethylene to its receptors so that the ripening process of apples will be suspended. Only when the fruit leaves the cold storage and is exposed to normal air will the pulp cells produce new ethylene receptors again. A series of physiological and biochemical reactions related to ripening is restarted. The fresh quality of apples is well preserved during the period of storage."
"After being treated by Logfresh technology, it only takes 24 hours for the fruit's ethylene receptors to bind to 1-MCP in the cold storage. After 24 hours, the apples in the cold storage can be routinely stored and managed, which can effectively reduce the storage diseases of apples and maintain the product's quality on hardness, crispness, retention of color, flavor, aroma, and nutrients.
"The active ingredient 1-MCP of Logfresh technology is extremely pure and is healthy and harmless to humans and the environment. It has been successfully used in apples, pears, kiwi, avocados, bananas, tomatoes, flowers, and other ethylene-sensitive products", Mr. Wang said.
Shandong Aoweite Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is committed to providing fresh-keeping solutions for major fruit and vegetable suppliers around the world. The company's fresh-keeping products cover the entire agricultural supply chain.
"We can customize the products according to the customer's needs", Mr. Wang said. The company's 1-MCP products have obtained registration certificates in Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries so far, and have cooperated with distributors in many regions. They are now looking for partners around the world.
More information:
Contact: Mr. Wang
Shandong Aoweite Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 18615225880(WhatsApp), +86 18615220662(WeChat)
Email: sales@awt-biotech.com
Website: www.chinesepost-harvest.com