Ethanol immersion extends the postharvest quality of grape berries

Grapes var. ?Kyoho? were harvested twice in 2007~2008 for two years from commercial orchards in S/Korea. After grading of 400-500g weight per each berry, freshly harvested table grapes were immersed for 10s in water (control), 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80% ethanol at 20 ?C. After treatment the fruit were promptly dried to prevent berry and then stored at 0-0.5 ?C (90~95% RH) for 60 days. The 50% ethanol maintained higher levels of firmness and bunch appearance after 60 days of storage at 0-0.5 ?C than other concentrations of ethanol, while fruit after immersion in water at these temperatures softened rapidly. Some physiological quality parameters such as titratable acids, respiration, and ethylene were not impaired by ethanol dipping in 40, 50, 60%, which resulted in inhibition of berry decay. Immersion of ?Kyoho? grapes in 50% ethanol reduced the decay of berries similarly and by about 30% in comparison with that of control. ? Original title, authors and source:Effect of Ethanol Dipping on Decay and Postharvest Quality of Table Grapes during Cold StoragePark, H. J.1; Park, Y. M. 2; Yang, Y. J. 11Sangmyung University, Anseo-dang, San 98-20, 330-720, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea2Andong National University, Republic of Korea The picture belongs to es.all-free-download.com ? ?