NYFQ Spring 2008 BOOK.Press.Indd
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Requirements for DCA and Suitability for the New York Industry Th e Apple Collection in Geneva, NY: The software and hardware required for DCA is reliable, relatively inexpensive and easily installed within existing CA fa- A Resource for Th e Apple Industry cilities. However, a feature of DCA that makes it less suitable for many New York storage operations may be that DCA is limited Today and for Generations to Come to those operations that have high quality storage rooms with 1 1 2 3 sufficient air-tightness and gas control to maintain O2 regimes Gennaro Fazio , Phil Forsline , Herb Aldwinckle , and Luis Pons 1 below 1%. Although there is a general rule that CO2 should be Plant Genetics Resources Unit, USDA-ARS, Geneva, NY 2 reduced whenever O2 is reduced, there have been no reports of Dept. of Plant Patholgy, NYSAES, Cornell University, Geneva, NY 3 an increase in CO2-induced disorders when using DCA commer- USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD cially or experimentally (R. Prange, personal communication). The physiological explanation may be that DCA is placing the O concentration at the Anaerobic Concentration Point, which 2 The National means that the internal CO2 production is at its lowest (see Fig- ocated at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station ure 3). The initial recommended CO concentration is 1%. With Figure 2. The HarvestWatch™ fl uorescence system showing the fl uorescence at Geneva, NY is a little known great public resource —the Apple Collection 2 interactive response monitor (FIRM) unit affi xed in an upper sampling kennel experience, this has been increased to higher values, e.g. 2.5% in largest apple collection in the world. Also little appreciated The National (center), apples in the bottom kennel (right) and a central hub (left). Before L different commercial and research locations, without induction storage, apples are placed in the bottom kennel over which the upper kennel is how critical this collection of apples of any CO2 disorders. The rate of fruit cooling and rate of low O2 housing the FIRM unit is securely fastened. In storage, the FIRM units are wired collection is for was assembled and establishment for DCA is the same as for rapid CA. The benefits to the hub which controls the interaction of electronic signals from a central “The national collection of apples at the future of the is maintained by the provided using the low O levels used in DCA can be achieved in computer to each attached FIRM device. (Reproduced with permission of Dr. 2 Geneva, which was assembled and is industry. More and Plant Genetic Re- both new and existing individual CA rooms of various sizes or a R.K. Prange). maintained by Agricultural Research more of the new sources Unit (PGRU) large number of CA rooms. It depends on the air-tightness of each apple and apple located on the cam- Service of the USDA, has thousands room and the ability of the storage operator to control O2. DCA rootstock varieties pus of Cornell Uni- uses a computer to generate and display the fluorescence signals of varieties. But the varieties of Malus that we have today versity’s New York Effect of Oxygen Concentration on 24/7 used by the storage operator to adjust the O2 concentration sieversii, the main progenitor of the come from breeding State Agricultural Ex- O2 Consumption and CO2 Production in each room, either manually or via computer 200 commercial apple collected from the wild programs that periment Station. Th e DCA also requires more training than operating a traditional have utilized the PGRU is part of a net- Plant geneticist Gennaro Fazio (left) and horti- Anaerobic apple forests of Central Asia (Kazakhstan culturist Phil Forsline observe fruit diversity from CA in order to interpret the information provided in the chloro- Compenstion CO2 Production genetic resources work of germplasm phyll fl uorescence measurement. While this may be perceived to Point in particular) have genetic resistance seedling trees of M. sieversii. (USDA/ARS) 150 being maintained repositories that be- be a negative thing by some storage operators, it is likely to result to diseases that may help apple breeders and characterized long to the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) of the United in earlier recognition of problems with the fruit or malfunctioning breed new varieties and rootstocks that in these apple States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Ser- CA equipment. For example, drift of the Fα signal (up or down) O Consumption 2 do a better job of defending themselves collections. vice (ARS). Th e PGRU is tasked with “Conservation and Utilization of over weeks or months can serve as a warning to the storage opera- 100 tor that the fruit have changed and that a visual check is warranted against diseases. This genetic makeup (R. Prange, personal communication). Unusual changes in the DCA CO2 Production (fermentation) may revolutionize the nation’s—and signal, e.g. sudden spikes, without an associated drop in the level of 50 perhaps the world’s—apple industry.” O2 concentration have warned commercial operators of equipment Fermentation threshold failures that would ruin the fruit, eg frozen or leaky O2 sample lines, if it had not been detected by the DCA system. 0 DCA requires the use of representative fruit, because a relatively 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 small number of fruit—six fruit for each FIRM sensor—is used to Oxygen concentration (Pressure, kPa) monitor the condition of all the fruit in the CA storage. In commer- Figure 3. Eff ect of oxygen concentration on O consumption and CO produc- cial storages, the DCA recommendation is at least one sensor for 2 2 every 250 bins of fruit. Evidence to date from commercial storages tion (from Prange, Bishop and DeLong, 2003). and research results is that there are major diff erences in the mini- mal acceptable low O level between cultivars and growing season. 2 however, because the maximum storage period tested was only six Th ere has been insuffi cient work in New York to show whether the months, a short period of time for scald control. variability among orchard blocks typical of our growing region will Although scald was eliminated in ‘Cortland’ and ‘Delicious’ permit safe adoption of DCA technology. However, it is somewhat after nine months of DCA storage plus a seven-day shelf life in a reassuring that commercial DCA experience indicates that the low O 2 Canadian study (DeLong et al., 2004a), subsequent research showed threshold within the same cultivar in the same DCA room is similar that DCA-stored fruit with no scald at removal can develop vary- with the only diff erences being in the height of the fl uorescence spike ing amounts of scald at shelf temperature (DeLong et al., 2007). amongst the sensors. We have not carried out research in New York, and therefore no research that directly compares DCA and 1-MCP treated apples Eff ects of DCA on Quality is available. Storage disorders. As was fi rst thought with 1-MCP, it has been In Nova Scotia, two studies show that scald control with either suggested that DCA can control superfi cial scald, and therefore use of technology is limited. Scald development in ‘Cortland’ and ‘Deli- the post harvest antioxidant diphenylamine (DPA) could be avoided. cious’ apples was markedly reduced by DCA compared with stan- In Italy, for example, research has shown that scald was completely dard controlled atmosphere (SCA) (Table 1). However, the benefi ts controlled in ‘Granny Smith’ by DCA or 1-MCP treatment in contrast of DCA for Cortland apples were still not acceptable from a com- Portion of National Apple Collection with varieties from natural forests of Central Asia. (Helene Bozzy, SEPPIA) to scald development in ULO-stored fruit. Th is work was limited mercial perspective, only after four months of storage. Control of 24 NEW YORK STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY NEW YORK FRUIT QUARTERLY . VOLUME 16 . NUMBER 1 . SPRING 2008 5 Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere Storage – A New Technology for the New York Storage Industry? 5.5 3500 Chris B. Watkins 5.0 O2 3250 Fα Department of Horticulture 3000 4.5 Fα (air) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 4.0 2750 on (%) i 3.5 2500 3.0 2250 α 2.5 2000 F he New York apple industry relies heavily on controlled 2.0 1750 atmosphere (CA) storage in addition to temperature and 1.5 1500 relative humidity control to maintain fruit quality during 1250 T concentrat Oxygen 1.0 storage and to ensure 0.5 1000 visually appealing, fl a- 0.0 750 The New York fruit industry is vorful, and healthy ap- 500 “ 0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 ples are available to the very familiar with the new storage Hours technology based on SmartFreshTM. consumer. In addition, A grafted tree produced in Geneva, New York, Phil Forsline and Herb Aldwinckle evaluating ap- Technician Greg Noden characterizes morpho- SmartFresh technol- Figure 1. An example of the Fα fl uorescence signal detected in ‘Summer- from a scion taken from a tree in a Kazakh apple ple varieties from Kazakstan. (Helene Bozzy, SEPPIA) logical traits of M. sieversii fruit and cuts the fruit However, another fruit storage ogy, which is based on land McIntosh’ apples held at 20°C in air (open circle) and in a progressively in preparation for taking a digital image for the technology has become available forest. William Srmack, farm manager at Geneva, the ethylene inhibitor diminished oxygen environment (dark circle). The spike in Fα begins as the within the last several years. The displays the quality fruit of this genotype that has website www.ars-grin.gov/gen (USDA/ARS) 1-methylcyclopropene chamber oxygen levels fall below 1% at 72 h and continues upward until the potential use by breeders.