Effects of the post-storage treatement with natural shellac on Red Delicious and Fuji apple varieties

Abstract

Coating fruits with shellac after storage improves fruit appearance. Moreover, it could preserve better their intrinsic quality and prevent physiological disorders such as superficial scald. During two years the influence of the coating with shellac and of the related treatment process was investigated on apple cv. Red Delicious and Fuji at the Research Centre Laimburg taking into account the difference in quality, before the coating, after storage either in CA-ULO, CA-ULO with SmartFresh or in dynamic CA by means of chlorophyll fluorescence (DCA-CF). On treated Red Delicious a trend for lower water-loss and scald and for higher firmness was observed after shelf-life. On treated Fuji we could demonstrate that the thermal shock involved in the coating process induced lenticel breakdown, and not the coating itself.