Ethylene production of apples still on… Renar João Bender and Eduardo Seibert (2004)

ETHYLENE PRODUCTION OF APPLES STILL ON THE TREE1

Renar João Bender2; Eduardo Seibert3
1
Trabalho conduzido na Estação Experimental de Caçador/EPAGRI, SC.
2
Eng. Agr., Ph.D., Professor do Departamento de Horticultura e Silvicultura, Faculdade de
Agronomia/UFRGS, C.P. 15.100, Porto Alegre 91.501-970, Brasil. rjbe@ufrgs.br
3
Eng. Agr., M.Sc., doutorando de PPGFitotecnia, Faculdade de Agronomia/UFRGS.
eduseibert@ig.br.

Keywords: Malus domestica Borkh., climacteric, ripening.

ABSTRACT
In the present work ethylene production was monitored during two years to determine the period in which the
climacteric peak occurs and if it occurs with apples still on the trees. Cv. Fuji apples were monitored for 36 days in
the first year and for 25 days in the second year. Ethylene production of cv. Gala apples was determined for 24
days only in the first year of evaluations. Internal ethylene concentrations of the selected apples were determined
through gas chromatography. ‘Fuji’ apples still on the trees did not show a typical climacteric peak and only a
slight 7-day increase in seed cavity ethylene concentration was determined. The maximum ethylene production
was 2,8nL.mL-1. In contrast to ‘Fuji’ apples, fruit of cv. Gala did produce a typical ethylene climacterium of more
than 10 days. Maximum ethylene production of ‘Gala’ apples was of 3,72nL.mL-1.

PRODUÇÃO DE ETILENO DE MAÇÃS AINDA NA PLANTA

Termos para indexação: Malus dometica Borkh., climatério, maturação

RESUMO
No presente trabalho foi acompanhada a produção de etileno durante dois anos consecutivos para determinar se
ocorre e em qual período ocorre o pico climatérico em maçãs ainda na planta. Maçãs da cv. Fuji foram
monitoradas ao longo de 36 dias no primeiro ano e ao longo de 25 dias no segundo ano de análises. Maçãs da cv.
Gala foram acompanhadas por 24 dias somente no primeiro ano de avaliações. As determinações das
concentrações de etileno interno foram feitas por cromatografia gasosa. Maçãs da cv. Fuji, durante os estádios em
que ainda estavam nas plantas não apresentaram um pico climatérico característico. Foi determinado um pequeno
incremento na concentração de etileno interno que se estendeu por 7 dias. A produção máxima de etileno
determinada nesta cultivar foi de 2,8nL.mL-1. Em comparação com as maçãs da cv. Fuji, maçãs da cv. Gala
ainda na planta produziram um típico pico climatérico. A concentração máxima determinada na cv. Gala foi de
3,72nL.mL-1 sendo que o pico climatérico apresentou uma duração de mais de 10 dias.

INTRODUCTION Both are not ethylene-linked processes (Dilley

Harvesting apples at the most
adequate ripeness stage has always been of
growers’ concern. In order to decide when
harvest shall start, samples are taken and
evaluated for ripening and quality variables.
Longer storage periods as a result of increasing
volumes to harvest have magnified the need
for accurate determination of ripeness stage.
A first attempt was to analyze a
greater number of variables of every sample,
however, it has brought more doubts than
certainties into the evaluation. Nowadays,
penetrometer and starch-iodine values are the
tests which harvest indications mostly rely on.
and Dilley, 1985). Yet ethylene is the ripening
hormone and for that reason its determination
should provide precise indication of the
physiological status of the fruit and,
consequently, harvest date. However,
Blankenship and Unrath (1987) concluded that
apple harvest forecast based on ethylene
production was not a reliable method at least
for some cultivars. Since the proposed methods
used picked apples and considering that
harvest itself induces a stress response
(Morgan and Drew, 1997) that might be
misinterpreted, in the present work ethylene

Rev. Iber. Tecnología Postcosecha Vol 6(2):107-109 107

Ethylene production of apples still on… Renar João Bender and Eduardo Seibert (2004)

production of apples still on the tree was
examined.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Internal ethylene concentrations were
determined on a gas chromatograph (gc)
equipped with a 60/80 mesh activated alumina
column (1/8”x1,5m) operated at 110°C
(column and injector temperature) and 160°C
at the FID detector. From each apple 1mL of
the internal atmosphere was withdrawn and
0,5mL were directly injected into the gc every
two to five days.
Chosen apples had inserted a 50x1mm
needle through the pistilar end to reach the
seed cavity. The needles were fixed to the
apples with casting paste and covered with a
serum stopper. In the first year, from 4 cv. Fuji
trees and 10 fruit each plant, 40 apples were
monitored during 36 days for seed cavity
ethylene. In the second year, 20 plants and 2
fruits each plant were sampled for 25 days.
Also and only in the first year of
determinations, 24 cv. Gala apples, 6 plants
and 4 fruits each plant, were sampled for core
ethylene concentrations.
started 5 days after the beginning of the
evaluation period and lasted about 10 days.
Remarkable are the differences in
maximum ethylene concentrations determined
in both cultivars. Seed cavity concentrations of
Gala apples during the climacteric peak stayed
between 3 and 4nL.mL-1. Noteworthy are also
the amounts of ethylene produced. Maximum
concentration of ‘Gala’ apples was 3,72nL.mL-1.
Ethylene concentrations were always
higher than 0,1nL.mL-1 which is considered by
Fellmann et al. (2003) the physiological
threshold. Therefore, all the ethylene
dependent processes could have evolved
unhindered both in ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ apples.
A

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Ethylene concentrations in the seed B
cavity of cv. Fuji apples stayed below 2,6
nL.mL-1 in the first year of evaluations.
Maximum concentration for this cultivar
determined in the second year was 2,8nL.mL-1
(Figure 1). Evolution of the internal
concentrations along the sampling periods does
not clearly indicate that Fuji apples underwent
a typical climacteric rise in ethylene production. Figure 1: Seed cavity ethylene production of Fuji
In both years, slight increments in apples still on the tree. Evaluation during 36 days in
the first year (A) and during 25 days (B) in the
ethylene concentrations of Fuji apples, which second year
might be considered as the climacteric peak,
lasted about five days. In the first year this
peak started after 15 days of evaluation, while
in the second year the start was on the 7th day.
Because of the time elapsed between start and
beginning of the rise in ethylene production
they should not be considered as a wound
response based on observations of Kato et al.
(2002).
Ethylene concentrations of ‘Gala’ Figure 2: Seed cavity ethylene production of Gala
apples indicate that fruit still on the tree apples still on the tree determined during 25 days.
undergo a climacteric rise (Figure 2). The peak

108 Rev. Iber. Tecnología Postcosecha Vol 6(2):107-109

Ethylene production of apples still on…
CONCLUSIONS
The orchard from which the ‘Fuji’
samples were taken was harvested at the
beginning of April, matching with the period of
the climacteric rise determined in the present
evaluation. The first half of April usually is the
harvesting period for cv. Fuji apples in
southern Brazil according to Argenta (2000).
The difficulty with this method, however, for
Fuji apples resides in the small amounts of
ethylene produced by this cultivar resulting in a
dim peak which could remain unidentified.
Cultivar Gala apples were harvested in
the second half of February, which is the
period of harvest of this cultivar in southern
Brazil (Argenta, 2000). As with ‘Fuji’ apples,
the commercial harvesting season of ‘Gala’ was
concomitant to the upsurge in ethylene
production determined in apples still on the
tree. Though with the ethylene production
rates of ‘Gala’ apples along the sampling days
a clear climacterium could be drawn.
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732.
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