APPLES QUALITY INDICATORS VARIATION DURING STORAGE IN CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE CONDITIONS.

The objective of the present study was to determine the quality indicators variation of three organic apple varieties during one year postharvest storage under controlled atmosphere conditions as following: O₂ - 3%, CO₂ - 5%, relative humidity (RH) (%) - 95%, temperature (T) (˚C) - 1˚C. Apple varieties like 'Golden Delicious', 'Red Prince' and 'Gala' were harvested from an organic orchard in Arad County, Romania. The quality indicators analyses were conducted in triplicates for each apple variety and consisted in determination of dry matter content, total soluble solids, total titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and total anthocyanin content. The obtained results indicated that ascorbic acid and total anthocyanin content values decreased during one year postharvest storage for all three apple varieties. Indicators like dry matter content and total titratable acidity registered decreases between 19% and 52%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]