Effect of harvest maturity and postharvest treatments on some chemical parameters of apple cv. Red delicious

Harvesting time is an important determinant for storage life of Apple. Fruits harvested at advanced maturity are more prone to mechanical injury, increased enzyme activity, short storage life and greater susceptibility to pathogens and physiological disorders. Fruits from three harvest dates (H1, H2 and H3) were subjected to various treatments. The treatments included T1 (shade cooling), T2 (Hydrocooling), T3 (Hydrocooling + calcium chloride), T4 (Hydrocooling + wax) and T5 (Hydrocooling + calcium chloride + wax). Samples were stored under ambient and refrigerated condition for 100 days to asses various quality changes. Chemical parameters, exhibit both increasing and decreasing trend. There was a decrease in acidity while TSS and total sugar content increased during storage of 100 days. Changes were more pronounced in ambient storage than refrigerated.