Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXIV, Issue 1
Written by Adrian CHIRA, Lenuţa CHIRA, Elena DELIAN, Ligia ION
Apricots and peaches are perishable fruits which require great care both at harvesting and during storage. In order to reduce losses and prolong their storage period, intervention during the post harvesting period is advisable through adequate techniques. The 'Dacia’ and 'Olimp’ apricot varieties have been taken under study, as well as the 'Nabby’, 'Royal Glory’, 'Raluca’, 'Filip’, and 'Sweet Dreams’ peach varieties. These were harvested from the experimental field of the Faculty of Horticulture of University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest. The preservation variants were: V1 - AN = the normal atmosphere typical to a storage space, the ambient temperature=240C and the relative humidity = 64%; V2 - AF = low temperature conditions (1-20C) and the relative humidity = 80-85%; V3 - AM = modified atmosphere resulted by applying a plastic pellicle (LDPE 5228 type) of 15 μm over the preserving containers, at the 1-20C temperature and 85-90% relative humidity. The assessment of the main physic-chemical characteristics of the fruit, as well as of the weight losses and the qualitative depreciation (attack by Monilinia sp.) during the preservation period was performed both at the time of the harvesting and after period of preservation. The optimal duration of fruits storage in modified atmosphere conditions was: 14-20 days for apricots and 10-14 days for peaches. The total losses recorded during storage were lower fruits harvested at the advanced ripening stage and stored in modified atmosphere conditions.
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