Treatment of Forelle pears to shorten prescribed storage period and to reduce astringency

A CO₂ treatment (>90%) at -0.5°C to reduce ‘Forelle’ pear astringency was evaluated for two harvest maturities. The treatment resulted in higher respiration rates, and earlier ethylene climacteric, lower % TA after twelve weeks of storage, and a slightly earlier rise in % TSS levels, compared to control fruit. The treatment also resulted in a loss of firmness after six weeks of storage and ripening. However, after 12 weeks of storage and ripening these differences in firmness were negligible. All fruit reached an edible firmness after 6 weeks of storage and ripening for 11 days (6+11). However, high levels of mealiness developed at this time (±70%) for riper fruit of the control H2 and treated H1and H2. The maximum mealiness, however, was 92% of the control H2 fruit at twelve weeks plus seven days of ripening (12+7). Astringency was slightly reduced in treated H1 fruit directly after the treatment (0+5) and seemed to be lower compared to the control. However, the variability in astringency in the other treatments as well as generally lower astringency with storage and ripening makes it impossible to conclude that the treatment indeed lowers astringency to levels that would justify it commercially.