Effect of calcium chloride (CaCl2) on postharvest quality of apple fruits

The purpose of this research was to estimate the shelf-life and to study the behavior of 'Malus domestica cv. 'Jonagold' apple kept at 0 to 2 degrees C in a normal atmosphere. The effects of postharvest CaCl2 applications on shelf-life and quality attributes of apple after harvest or cold storage up to 5 month were determined. The experiment was carried out in 2010 and 2011 and fruit weight losses, fruit firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, ethylene production, peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) enzyme activities were measured at 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, and 150 days of postharvest life. The fruits were immersed in distilled water with calcium concentrations (0, 2 and 4% (W/V). Results showed that fruit weight loss significantly decreased in calcium treatments in comparison to control. Also, results showed that calcium treatments increase fruit firmness, catalase activity, TA and Perlim index, while decreasing of pH, TSS/TA ratio and peroxidase activity during cold storage at 0 to 2 degrees C for 5 month (P <= 0.05). The results showed that calcium treatments application was influenced on ethylene in comparison to control. In general, this experiment showed that post-harvest Ca treatments prevented fruit softening and decreased weight losses.