APPLE

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae

Subfamily: Pomoideae - Maloideae.

Genus: Malus

Species: There are many species. Malus x domestica Borkh. (The cultivated apple tree is an interspecific hybrid complex).

 

An apple is a type of fruit cultivated from the Rosaceae family. It is believed that the apple tree first appeared in Northern Anatolia, the South Caucasus, in the regions of southwestern Russia and the region of Central Asia (east of Kazakhstan). According to many sources, the species has spread throughout the world precisely from Central Asia, where the wild-growing ancestor of the domestic apple tree, the Sievers apple tree, still grows.

Most commercial apple cultivars thrive in cold, humid climates where cold winters are followed by cool springs and summers. The apple tree withstands frost down to -36°C, dislikes drought and heat. The soil where it grows should be loamy, sandy and at least 1 m deep. It likes soil with a pH of 6-7. Groundwater should not be closer than 1 m. It does not like stony and calcareous soils.

An apple is a fruit with a very high nutritional value. It is one of the most popular fruits due to its high vitamin content. Apple fruits contain malic, tartaric, citric and other organic acids, sugars (glucose, sucrose and others), vitamins C, A, B1, carotene, tannins and pectin, trace elements (iron, copper), macronutrients (potassium, calcium, magnesium and others), essential oil and other substances.

Medical sources claim that people who regularly consume apples have reduced mental disorders, respiratory diseases, and the incidence of tooth decay. According to some studies, eating apples can reduce the risk of bowel, prostate, and lung cancer. Compared to other fruits and vegetables, apples do not contain as much vitamin C, but they are rich in other antioxidants. The fiber in an apple, although less than in most other fruits, stimulates intestinal motility, which may reduce the risk of cancer. Fiber can also be helpful in preventing heart disease, losing weight, and lowering cholesterol levels.

 

Valuable types of apples suitable for long-term storage

 

There are over 30 commercial varieties of apples, including Fuji, Gala, Golden, Granny Smith, Starking, Breaburn, Elstar, Jonagold, Red Delicious, Red Chief, Starkrimson, Pink lady.

 

Harvesting

 

Picking apples is done by hand. It is easy to pick an apple from a branch if you gently take it in the palm of your hand, turn it slightly and push it up. Collected apples are placed in buckets or boxes. Care must be taken not to damage the fruit during harvesting and transport. Harvesting fruits from dwarf varieties is easier and cheaper, and there is no mechanical damage to trees during harvesting.

 

The measures to be taken into account when determining the harvest time for apples are as follows:

 

- Number of days from full bloom to maturity

- Hardness of fruit pulp

- Fruit skin color

- Condition of the fruit detaching from the branch

- Starch level

 

An apple is a very delicate fruit with a thin skin. When collecting fruits, they should be taken in the palm of your hand, and not squeezed with your fingers. Care must be taken when stacking and transferring fruit in buckets or collection boxes. A small wound (such as a nail scar) or a bruise can cause not only rotting during storage, but can also lead to fungal growth.

The most important moment for achieving and maintaining a high commercial value of fruits is the correct determination of the timing of harvesting. Fruits harvested on time have the highest quality characteristics of this variety. The problems of apple storage start first of all with the harvest and continue along the entire cold chain (harvest - pre-storage operations - storage - transportation - marketing). If issues related to pre-harvest and post-harvest processing are not controlled, product losses can reach 30-40%.

With the picking of apples, the process of respiration in the fruits begins, which should be slowed down as soon as possible.

 

Suitable storage conditions for apples

 

Like all fruits, apples, immediately after harvest, should be brought to the warehouse as soon as possible and placed in the cold chain by lowering the internal temperature with pre-cooling. The golden rule for long-term storage of apples, as well as other fruits, is to lower the internal temperature as soon as possible. This will reduce the respiration rate of fruits that begin to respire immediately after picking, and thus store apples with an acceptable loss of commercial value / quality in a cold store for about 4-5 months. The maximum storage time of this product depends on this item. Apples should be stored at 0 to 5°C and 90 to 95% humidity. Also, one of the most important factors in determining the storage suitability of fruit species is the sugar content of the fruit. The high sugar content of the fruit is a feature that speeds up fermentation. Therefore, it can be said that with different sugar content, even for two apples of the same variety, the storage time is reduced in inverse proportion to the amount of sugar contained in the fruit. For the same reason, even in species suitable for long-term storage, the time of collection is very important. This situation is related to the amount of sugar accumulated during maturation. To extend the shelf life, the sugar content must be optimal. In this regard, the time of harvesting fruits for storage should be made not earlier, not later than the optimal time, but on the right days as expected. 

Apples and the CA system

There are more than 30 commercially valuable types of apples. Although the storage conditions in each type of CA system are unique, it can be said that in general they should be stored at approximate values ​​of 1-1.5% for O2 and 1-1.5% for CO2. An apple can be stored in a refrigerated warehouse with an RHS system for an average of 10-11 months in almost the same quality as it was received at the warehouse. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain the temperature regime from 0 to 5 ° C and the humidity regime from 90 to 95%. When planning to store for longer periods, the temperature should be kept slightly higher to avoid damage to the apples from freezing.

However, net storage protocol values ​​(O2, CO2, temperature and humidity) can vary depending on many conditions, such as when the fruit is harvested in a particular season, the climate of the year in which the fruit is grown, the variety of apple, the type of soil/irrigation/harvest, and characteristics of the garden. In order to select the correct protocols for the CA system, information and professional support must also be obtained from expert institutions, relevant university departments of horticulture and experienced private consultants.

We refer our clients who prefer us as a solution partner for the use of CA systems only to specialized organizations or specialists who will provide the most accurate and appropriate solution on this issue.

 

Our storage products

 - Controlled Atmosphere automation

 - Oxygen Scrubber

 - Carbon Dioxide Scrubber

 

*An important note. The above data are scientific recommendations that contain general storage conditions that are not specific to a specific region. Therefore, this information is only indicative and no rights or obligations can be derived from it. For more detailed professional and product-specific recommendations, please consult local research institutes or relevant university departments and seek professional support.

 

The operation of the CA system is ensured by monitoring and adjusting the concentration of gases that make up the air in a gas-tight (hermetic) room using equipment and automation.

 

The OXYCAT team offers turnkey professional CA equipment and automation with all kinds of consulting, design, engineering and service services for your CA system, suitable for your needs and business structure.

 

Please contact if you have any questions and requests regarding our CA systems.