Variation in quality of apple fruits stored after harvest on different dates

SummaryThe variation in eating quality of ‘Cox’ apples after harvest at weekly intervals and storage in 2% oxygen was investigated. The sugar and malate content and flesh firmness of the fruit showed larger variations between seasons and between orchards than between harvest dates; much of the variation between harvest dates was lost during storage. The concentrations of butanol and butyl acetate after storage increased with later harvest dates but changes in other volatile compounds were small or inconsistent. Sugar, malate and firmness after storage were correlated with the same attributes of the fruit at harvest. Most of the correlations between one attribute and another could be accounted for as a common correlation with harvest date. A taste panel compared stored fruit from various harvest dates with fruit from a single reference harvest. Consistent discriminations were made in one or more sensory attributes for fruit harvested one week before or after the reference date. In all except one series the...