Improvement of Postharvest Fruit Quality in 'Formosa' Plums (Prunus salicina) after Treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene during Storage

Plum is a climacteric fruit and softening is a serious problem for storage and transportation. Thus $1{\mu}L{\cdot}L^{-1}$ of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) was applied to plums to prolong their shelf life and maintain quality. Japanese plums (Prunus salicina cv. Formosa) were stored at $20^{\circ}C$ and $0^{\circ}C$ for 14 days and 46 days respectively, with or without 1-MCP treatment. Fruits were treated with $1{\mu}L{\cdot}L^{-1}$ 1-MCP at $10^{\circ}C$ for 24 h. Ethylene production and respiration rate were strongly inhibited in 1-MCP-treated fruits at $20^{\circ}C$. It was also observed that there was less ethanol and acetaldehyde evaporation in 1-MCP-treated fruits stored at $20^{\circ}C$ compared to those in control fruits not treated with 1-MCP. Fruit qualities, such as firmness, titratable acidity (TA), skin color, and decay, changed more slowly in 1-MCP-treated fruits stored at $20^{\circ}C$ than in untreated fruits. There were no differences in the ethylene production or respiration rate between the groups of fruits stored at $0^{\circ}C$ throughout the experiment. Chilling injury was also inhibited by the application of 1-MCP during storage at $0^{\circ}C$. When the fruits stored at $0^{\circ}C$ with or without 1-MCP were transferred to $20^{\circ}C$ after 25 days, the differences in ethylene production and respiration rate, firmness, TA, TSS, and acetaldehyde and ethanol evaporation between the initial (after being stored at $0^{\circ}C$ for 25 days) and the final measurements (after being stored at $0^{\circ}C$ for 25 days and then transferred to $20^{\circ}C$ for three days) were lower in 1-MCP treated fruits than in non-treated fruits. The postharvest application of 1-MCP in Formosa plums showed positive effects at both $0^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$ storage conditions with regard to quality, such as low ethylene production and low respiration rates, firmness, TA, ethanol, and acetaldehyde evaporation, chilling injury, and decay.