QUALITY OF PACKED AND BIN STORED 'ANJOU' PEARS AS INFLUENCED BY STORAGE ATMOSPHERE AND TEMPERATURE

Packed pears (Pyrus communis‘d’‘Anjou’) were stored under four individual controlled atmosphere (CA) storage conditions (#1: CA of 1.5% O₂ and < 1% CO₂ at ?1.5C; #2: CA of 1.5% O₂ and < 1% CO₂ at + 1.5C; #3: CA of 1.5% O₂ and 3.0% CO₂ at ?1.5C; #4: CA of 1.5% O₂ and 3.0% CO₂ at + 1.5C). Loose pears in bins were stored under three CA storage conditions (#1: CA of 1.5% O₂ and <1% CO₂ at ?1.5C; #2: CA of 1.5% O₂ and 3.0% CO₂ at ?1.5C; #3: CA of 1.5% O₂ and 3.0% CO₂ at +1.5C). For packed pears, increased CO₂ in the storage atmosphere resulted in retention of peel color, reduced firmness loss and enhanced subjective scores, particularly for finish and stem condition. Pears stored loose in bins, prior to packing in late January in an atmosphere containing 3.0% CO₂ aided firmness retention, reduced scald and greatly enhanced subjective quality scores for appearance, finish and scuffing. Storing ‘Anjou’pears in a 3.0% CO₂ atmosphere allows for storing pears loose in bin and packing in late January with little or no quality losses compared with using the standard 1.0% CO₂ in the storage atmosphere.