Post-harvest physiological study and evaluation of the quality of Cv. Horvin plums (prunus domestica l.) in three cold-storage conditions

The plum cv. Horvin is a highly perishable fruit; this hampers post-harvest handling and there is currently no cold storage chamber or suitable post-harvest handling infrastructure in Colombia. The present work was aimed at evaluating the quality of the plum cv. Horvin in three storage conditions. The plum cv. Horvin is a climacterical fruit, its respiratory rate being influenced by storage conditions showing a direct relationship with temperature. It was found that 4 degrees C was the best storage temperature for maintaining cv. Horvin plum quality, having a 13.23% accumulated weight loss, greater than 20 N firmness and more than 11 degrees Brix total soluble solids (SST) at the end of a 31-day storage period. Weight loss, respiratory rate, firmness, titratable acidity (AT) and SST/AT ratio were the parameters best representing cv. Horvin plum maturity during storage. Total soluble solids did not reveal high variability in the storage conditions analysed here; this pararneter should not be taken as being a post-harvest maturity index.