Apple superficial scald prevention by vapour treatments

Superficial scald is a postharvest physiological disorder of apples charact erized by browning of apple skin during prolonged storage. It has been hypo thesized that conjugated triene hydroperoxides (CTH) attack cell membranes causing membrane perturbation and the manifestation of the disorder. The pu rpose of this study was to compare the common synthetic antioxidant dipheny lamine (DPA) treatment with postharvest vapour treatments for superficial s cald prevention. Apples cv. 'Granny Smith' were treated with ethanol, metha nol and "apple aroma" vapours. The influence of these treatments on scald s usceptibility and sensorial quality of apples was examined. The ethanol treatments were effective in superficial scald prevention but t hey caused a high incidence of internal browning after two months of storag e. The 10 day treatments at 20 degrees C developed very pronounced internal browning after storage. The aroma treatment was the least effective in app le scald prevention but no internal disorders appeared after storage. Apple s treated with methanol at 20 degrees C retain a great deal of their initia l green colour. Vapour treatments demonstrated to be potential methods for scald prevention. Additional research is needed to minimise the internal di sorders of treated fruit.