Impact of fruit bagging and postharvest storage conditions on quality and decay of organic nectarines

ABSTRACT

Abiotic factors such as light influence the physicochemical properties of fruit and may alter the response of the fruit to the environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two postharvest storage conditions on the overall quality and natural fungal disease incidence (fruit decay) of organic nectarines. Experiments were conducted with four organically grown nectarine cultivars (two early-mid season and two late-season) that were unbagged or bagged during preharvest. After harvest, they were stored for 7–9 days in darkness or under a treatment with lighting. Quality parameters (weight, diameter, firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, and single index of absorbance difference), ethylene production, and fruit decay (% incidence of decay) were evaluated. Preharvest bagging reduced fruit decay in the late-season cultivars, for which storage under darkness reduced fungal decay (up to 100%) more than storage under lighting treatment (47% reduction). Bagging altered the initial fruit quality, but values were within official recommendations. Storage conditions reduced differences attributed to bagging, especially under storage with lighting. This work highlighted the importance of modulating the light, both in the field by fruit bagging and during postharvest, to reduce fruit decay and improve fruit quality. These results may serve as a tool for both farmers and postharvest chain managers.

KEYWORDS:

• Fungal diseases
• late-season cultivars
• lighting treatment
• postharvest chain
• stone fruit
• sustainable fruit production

Acknowledgments

The authors want to acknowledge Sandra Serrano-Prieto and Nil Ventura-Hosta for technical support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the national project AGL2017-84389-C2-1-R from the Spanish Government (MINECO), by a Ph.D. grant CPD2016-0159 (M.B.-L.) from INIA, and by funding received from the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.