Influence Of Hypobaric Storage, Ozone Treatment And Controlled Atmosphere Storage On Postharvest Physiology Of Apricot Fruits

Apricot is one of summer fruitages and favorable not only for itsflamboyant skin, unique flavor and abundant nutrition, but also for better officinal andfunctional values for the human being. It results in quick ripeness and softening, andsusceptible decay because of vigorous respiration and loss of nutrient and flavorsubstance of apricot fruits after harvest. It also influences storage period andproduction of apricot fruits. Domestic peasants adopt traditional methods such as icepit storage and room temperature storage to store apricot fruits over a long period oftime, but their storage quantity is small and storage time is short. Apricot fruits treatedwith these methods have poor quality after storage, they can't meet with marketdemand and there is no benefit of scale.Effect of hypobaric storage, ozone storage and controlled atmosphere storage onphysiological and biochemical changes of 'Chuan zhi hong' apricot fruits after harvestwas studied, and softening mechanism of apricot fruits during storage was discussed.The reference on fresh-keeping of apricot fruits is offered. The conclusions weresummarized as follows:1. Hypobaric storage (increasing humidity by filling water) had prominent effectson fresh-keeping of apricot fruits. The rate of commercial fruits was still up to 80%,and the rate of weight loss was only 5.7% when apricot fruits were stored at 20.3kPaafter 90 days.2. Apricot fruits were supposed to belong to the kind of fruits with climacteric.Hypobaric storage could reduce respiration rate and delay climacteric. Its effect wasmore remarkable when the pressure between 20.3kPa and 101.3kPa was lower.3. The total acid content of apricot fruits tended to fall off gradually during storage.Hypobaric storage could slow down degradation rate of the total acid content, but theeffect was not remarkable when the pressure dropped to lower than 40.5kPa. Thereducing sugar content of apricot fruits tended to rise first and then go down duringstorage. Hypobaric storage could slow down augment rate of the reducing sugarcontent of apricot fruits. Its effect was more remarkable when the pressure between20.3kPa and 101.3kPa was lower.4. The activity of polygalacturonase of apricot fruits rose first and then went down during storage. Hypobaric storage could inhibit the activity of polygalacturonase, andthe effect was most remarkable when the pressure was at 20.3kPa. The water-solublepectin content of apricot fruits went up gradually during storage. Hypobaric storagecould slow down augment rate of the water-soluble pectin content of apricot fruits,and the effect was most remarkable when the pressure was at 20.3kPa. The firmnessof apricot fruits fell off gradually during storage. Hypobaric storage could retainfirmness of apricot fruits, and its effect was more remarkable when the pressurebetween 20.3kPa and 101.3kPa was lower.5. The activity of lipoxygenase of apricot fruits rose first and then went downduring storage. Hypobaric storage could restrain the activity of lipoxygenase, and theeffect was most remarkable when the pressure was at 20.3kPa. The malondialdehydecontent of apricot fruits increased first and then decreased during storage. Hypobaricstorage could slow down degradation rate of the malondialdehyde content, but theeffect was not remarkable when the pressure dropped to lower than 40.5kPa. However,the relative conductivity of pulp tissue of apricot fruits went up all the time duringstorage. Hypobaric storage could slow down augment rate of the relative conductivity,and the effect was more remarkable when the pressure between 20.3kPa and 101.3kPawas lower.6. The rate of commercial fruits was up to 66.7% and the rate of weight loss was10.8% after 90 days when apricot fruits were dealt with 150 mg·m^-3 ozone, once every5 days and 30 minutes every time.7. Ozone treatment could reduce respiration rate of apricot fruits during storage.The respiration rate cut down along with the concentration increase when theconcentration of ozone was lower than 150 mg·m^-3. However, the respiration rateenhanced along with the concentration increase when the concentration of ozone washigher than 200 mg·m^-3.8. Ozone treatment could slow down degradation rate of the total acid content ofapricot fruits and reduce degradation rate of the reducing sugar content of apricotfruits. The effect was most remarkable when the concentration of ozone was 150mg·m^-3.9. Ozone treatment could inhibit the activity of polygalacturonase, reduce thewater-soluble pectin content and retain firmness of apricot fruits. The effect was mostremarkable when the concentration of ozone was 150 mg·m^-3. 10. Ozone treatment could restrain the activity of lipoxygenase, slow downdegradation rate of the malondialdehyde content and maintain osmosis of pericellularmembrane. The effect was not remarkable along with the concentration increase whenthe concentration of ozone was higher than 200 mg·m^-3.11. The rate of commercial fruits was up to 50% and the rate of weight loss was11.8% after 90 days when apricot fruits were stored under controlled atmosphere with2%O₂+10%CO₂+88%N₂.12. The suitable controlled atmosphere storage could reduce respiration rate ofapricot fruits during storage. The effect of treatment No.2 (2%O₂+10%CO₂+88%N₂)was most remarkable among all treatments.13. The suitable controlled atmosphere storage could slow down degradation rate ofthe total acid content of apricot fruits, and the effect of treatment No.1 (2%O₂+2%CO₂+96%N₂) was most remarkable among all treatments. The controlled atmospherestorage could reduce degradation rate of the reducing sugar content of apricot fruitsduring storage. The effect of treatment No.2(2%O₂+10%CO₂+88%N₂) was mostremarkable among all treatments.14. The suitable controlled atmosphere storage could inhibit the activity ofpolygalacturonase and retain firmness of apricot fruits, and the effect of treatmentNo.2(2%O₂+10%CO₂+88%N₂) was most remarkable among all treatments. Thesuitable controlled atmosphere storage could reduce augment rate of the water-solublepectin content, and the effect of treatment No.1(2%O₂+2%CO₂+96%N₂) andtreatment No.2 (2%O₂+10%CO₂+88%N₂) was most remarkable among all treatments.15. The suitable controlled atmosphere storage could restrain the activity oflipoxygenase and slow down degradation rate of the malondialdehyde content, and theeffect of treatment No.2 (2%O₂+10%CO₂+88%N₂) and No.7 (10%O₂+10%CO₂+80%N₂) was most remarkable among all treatments. The suitable controlled atmospherestorage could slow down augment rate of the relative conductivity, and the effect oftreatment No.2 (2%O₂+10%CO₂+88%N₂) was most remarkable among all treatments.