Effect of the Ambient Factors in Boxes and Cold Store on Quality of Stored Peach

Abstract

Objective of this study was to determine the impact of differences observed in ambient temperature and relative humidity for peach boxes in cold storage. The study was implemented in an experimental cold store with a chiller unit. Cooling system was adjusted at +1?oC with 90% of relative humidity. Changes of ambient factors inside of the boxes and in the cold store for different levels were measured. Differences between ambient factors of the cold store and plastic storage boxes were compared. ‘Glohaven’ peaches (Prunus persica L. Batch) were cold stored for 4 weeks. Quality parameters of the peaches were determined for different levels per week during storage period. According to the results, there was no important difference between ambient factors for the cold store and inside of the storage boxes. The cold store with chiller cooling system worked successfully and distribution of the storage temperature and the relative humidity in the cold store and inside the storage boxes was almost homogeny. Fruit firmness, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, pH values, respiration rate, changes on the starch and its impact on the flavour were found to be significantly meaningful. However, its effects on the quality criteria on top, medium and base levels inside the store were considered statistically insignificant. The measurement results showed that there were some differences among various levels with regards to storage conditions though they had no significant negative effect on quality criteria. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Deutschland, ein Teil von Springer Nature.