INFLUENCE OF STORAGE CONDITIONS ON CHANGES IN PHYSICAL PARAMETERS AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY (VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM L.) FRUIT DURING STORAGE

Abstract

The research was carried out in the years 2009-2012 at the Fruit Farming Laboratory of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin. The experiment was conducted in a production plantation where Sunrise cultivar bushes were planted in grey-brown podzolic soil, and collected fruit was stored for 6 weeks. The Palliflex storage system ensures specific atmosphere in a single pallet, which enables long- and short-term storage of fruit. In the research, fruit quality (physical parameters and chemical composition) was assessed depending on method of fruit preparation for storage (without shock cooling or shock cooling of fruit after harvest) and storage conditions (an ordinary cold store and CA cold store – the Palliflex system). The smallest changes in firmness (437 G·mm^-1) and color when compared to fresh fruit were observed in a CA cold store after fruit pre-cooling (425 G·mm^-1). The highest fruit weight loss was noted after fruit storage in normal atmosphere (1.9%). The storage resulted in a reduced content of ascorbic acid (59 and 72 mg·1000 mL^-1) and polyphenols (175 and 207 mg·100g^-1), while the content of nitrates in fruit grew (47.4 and 41.2 mg·1000 mL^-1). No changes were observed in the content of extract and organic acids.

Due to pre-cooling of fruit and its storage in a CA cold store, the fruit had the most advantageous physical and chemical parameters – similar to those of fresh fruit.