Ethylene application in different periods of refrigerated storage of plum Gulfblaze treated with 1-methylcyclopropene

Abstract

The plum 'Gulfblaze' is a fruit that has a limited postharvest period. However, techniques such as refrigeration and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) application - ethylene inhibitor product - may be used to prolong the shelf life. It is known that some processes which occur during maturation are ethylene dependent. Thereby, the presence of ethylene is essential to the fruit ripening and to trigger the necessary changes to its maintenance of quality. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of ethylene application in different periods (1, 18 and 36 days) of postharvest quality of plum 'Gulfblaze' treated with 1-MCP and stored under refrigeration. The fruits will be selected according to the presence of injuries and subjected to the application of 1-MCP (450 nL L-1) at 22°C for 12 hours in sealed chambers and then stored at 5°C and 80-85% of RH during 36 days. After the cold storage, the application with ethylene (20 µL L-1) will be applied in sealed chambers for 12 hours and then kept at room temperature for six days to simulate commercialization conditions. The analysis will be done every two days and the data will be submitted to analysis of variance and means will be compared by Tukey test (p<0.05).