Abstract:

The article presents the dynamic analysis of ethylene, as a promoting factor of the overripe stage of Fuji and Golden apples, which influences the degree of turgidity / senescence of apples. The dynamics of ethylene emission, corroborated with the intensity of respiration, is influenced both by the degree of maturation before storage and by the storage conditions of the studied plant products. During the storage period, there is a sudden increase in respiration, when the apples reach a climacteric maximum, after which the intensity of this process decreases slowly. For this reason apples are also called climacteric fruits. These transformations generate the maturity of the fruit, the stage that defines a climacteric maximum, diminishes the turgidity of the apples, transformations due to the ethylene emission. The respiratory climate indicates the transition from the maturation phase to the over-maturation phase (senescence), indicates the maximum storage limit of apples, respectively the level of consumption maturity, when they have appropriate commercial properties. Maturation represents the "beginning of the end" (Biale, 1960).