The Effects of Pre-Harvest Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) Treatments on Fruit Quality Attributes of Braeburn Apples during Cold Storage

In this study, effects of pre-harvest naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) treatments on weight loss, color, flesh firmness, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity and starch index of Braeburn apples (Malus x domestica Borkh) were determined at harvest and at 45 days post-harvest intervals throughout cold storage at 0±0.5°C and 90±5% RH. During cold storage, the lowest weight loss was obtained from NAA-treated fruits. L* and hue angle values of both control and NAA-treated fruits decreased in all analysis periods. While chroma value increased for NAA-treated fruits during cold storage, it firstly increased, and then decreased. The flesh firmness of NAA-treated fruits was higher than control fruits at harvest, whereas it was lower in the last two analysis periods. NAA-treated fruits had lower SSC values than the control fruits. The starch degradation of NAA-treated fruits was faster than the control fruits.