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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Most pear (Pyrus communis) cultivars are harvested when mature but do not have the capacity to ripen
to a buttery-juicy texture without further postharvest conditioning, either with cold temperatures
(“temperature conditioning”), ethylene exposure (“ethylene conditioning”) at 20 °C, or a combination of
the two. It has been assumed that the length of temperature conditioning required to induce ripening
capacity is characteristic of the cultivar, and that temperature conditioning is most efficient at normal
storage temperatures (0 to -1 °C). At these temperatures, ‘Beurré Bosc’ pear is expected to need 15 days
(d) of conditioning, ‘Doyenné’ du ‘Comice’ 30 d, and ‘Beurré d’Anjou’ 60 or more days. We found that
as fruit maturity in the orchard advances, the length of conditioning needed at -0.5 °C decreases linearly.
Furthermore, temperature conditioning is satisfied more rapidly as conditioning temperature is increased,
up to 10 °C. Combining ethylene exposure and temperature conditioning at 10 °C allows rapid development
of ripening capacity, facilitating early marketing of pears with excellent eating quality. With respect to
postharvest decay of pears, we have found that postharvest fungicide or biocontrol treatments are relatively
inefficient when applied more than 3 weeks after fruit wounding which occurs at harvest, yet pears are
typically stored for longer periods before postharvest treatment. Enhancement of fruit calcium through
foliar applications during the growing season can reduce the rate of increase in decay risk with delay in
postharvest treatment. Application of fungicides regarded as “reduced-risk” by US EPA in the 1-3 weeks
before harvest can further reduce decay increase with postharvest treatment delay, and the combination of
calcium enhancement plus pre-harvest fungicide treatment can substantially reduce decay risk.
Description
Proceedings of the International Conference “Environmentally friendly and safe
technologies for quality of fruit and vegetables”, held in Universidade do Algarve, Faro,
Portugal, on January 14-16, 2009. This Conference was a join activity with COST Action 924.
Keywords
Fruit calcium Pear ripening Reduced-risk fungicides Temperature conditioning