Effects of Postharvest Treatments of Calcium, Lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine (LPE), and 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on the Fruit Quality during Simulated Marketing in Asian Pears (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai)

We investigated the effect of postharvest treatments of calcium chloride, lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine (LPE) or 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on fruit quality during simulated marketing in Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai). ‘Whangkeumbae’ pear fruits were immersed in 0.25, 0.5 or 1.0% CaCl2 solution with or without ultrasound (40kHz) at 25C for 3min followed by storage at 1C for 30 days simulated as abroad exportation. After simulated marketing at 25C and 80% relative humidity (RH) up for 10 days, quality parameters were evaluated. Results indicated that the ultrasound and CaCl2 treatment had a synergic effect on keeping the green skin color which showed lower a* value. The combination treatment of ultrasound and 0.5% and 1.0% CaCl2 significantly reduced internal browning disorders, although severe skin blemish disorder (20-23%) occurred in 1.0% CaCl2 treatment. ‘Wonhwang’ pears were immersed in 1,000ppm LPE for 3 minutes or were fumigated in 1,000 ppb 1-MCP for 12 hours, respectively. The results of the fruit quality survey during the 21 days of distribution period are as follows. The 1MCP treatment was maintained at a constant flesh firmness of 33N or higher during the distribution period. The LPE treated fruits had a lower physiological disorder index than the untreated group, but showed a relatively higher value than the 1-MCP treated group. In the case of 1-MCP treatment, the fruit respiration rate was significantly lower than of untreated control (6.0 mL·kg·hr) during the simulaed marketing period. Consequently, it was expected that the postharvest treatments of 0.5% calcium chloride in pararell with ultrasound and 1-MCP fumigation can help to maintain Asian pear quality during distribution period. Additional key words : firmness, physiological disorder, respiration, soluble solids