Storage behaviour of ‘Reinette du Canada’ apple cultivars

Apple (Malus domestica Borkh) cultivars ʹReinette du Canadaʹ (RC) and ʹReinette Grise du Canadaʹ (RG) have been declared throughout the European Community as protected designation of origin (PDO) ʹManzana Reineta del Bierzoʹ. The aim of this research was to find out the influence of storage technique on quality of PDO apple cultivars ʹRCʹ and ʹRGʹ, and to evaluate the absence of traditional post-harvest treatments in these high quality cultivars in order to reduce pesticide residues in fruit. Apples were kept in standard cold storage or in controlled atmosphere (CA). At harvest time and during storage, fruit from each treatment and storage technique was analysed to determine quality parameters as well as disorder incidence. CA storage has been useful to delay the maturity process of PDO apple cultivars ʹRCʹ and ʹRGʹ and to reduce the incidence of storage disorders. Apple cultivars had different behaviour so ʹRGʹ cultivar showed lower weight loss (5.1%), shrivelling (6.4%) and bitter-pit (11%) than ʹRCʹ cultivar (8.3%, 60.8% and 34%, respectively) at the end of storage. The response of both cultivars to the treatment was quite different, so ʹRGʹ adapted better than ʹRCʹ to the absence of postharvest treatments. Untreated ʹRGʹ showed more brightness, total soluble solids (TSS) and TSS:titratable acidity values than treated ʹRGʹ, factors that could improve consumer acceptance. Effectiveness of postharvest treatment in terms of bitter-pit was lower in ʹRGʹ than in ʹRCʹ. These results indicate that ʹRGʹ would adapt better to storage without the use of chemical postharvest treatments.