Scientific Papers Series B Horticulture

optimal flow experience across storage-keepingwith reference to standardized packaging units,space conditioning, refrigeration thermostaticcell, organoleptic testing laboratory, equipmentand devices for measurements and analyzesprovided made it possible to achieve this goal.The experiments were conducted in 5 differentcomparative variants based on the mentionedcultivars, with 3 repetitions pervariant.During storage it has been made thedaily examination of the thermal-hydric factorsin the refrigeration room, for ensuring thatoptimal conditions to maintain quality(temperature 0 ... 4 0 C and RH 90 .. 95%). Alsowe proceeded to assess the ability to maintainfruit quality by findings the appearancechanges occurred regarding dehydration, theappearance and evolution of different storagedisease. Taking into account the high degree ofmaturity of the fruit during storage and qualitychanges occurring during storage it wasestimated that during cold storage the limit is110 days. After removing apples from thestorage space the determinations wereperformed on the table and impairment losses(spoilage) and fruit firmness, biochemicalanalysis of the main components andorganoleptic testing at this stage. Determinationof mass loss and spoilage during storageproducts was done by weighing samples of fruitresulted, respectively the fruit impaired(spoiled) during storage, compared with theinitial amount deposited, the results beingexpressed as a percentage.Fruit firmness was made manual with apenetrometer piston type Effe-gi 1 mm, on atotal of 25 fruits per variant, each fruit waspenetrated at 4 points in the equatorial zoneafter removing the epidermis in those points.Tests for the main chemical components (drysubstance, total sugar, titratable acidity andascorbic acid) were performed by standardlaboratory methods as follows:- dry substance was determined byrefractometry method using ABB tablerefractometer with results expressed in%:- total sugar by Berthrand method with resultsexpressed in %;- acidity by titrimetric method with resultsexpressed in % of malic acid;- vitamin C (ascorbic acid) byspectrophotometer method, using UV-VISSpecol spectrophotometer and expression inmg/100g.To assess organoleptic tasting were performedusing the tasting sheets that contain a numberof three assessment criteria (appearance,texture, taste). Notation (appreciation) wasperformed using 100 points scale. Each of thethree assessment criteria has different weight ingeneral notation, depending on theirimportance. Thus 'the aspect' represents 15%,'texture' 35% and taste 50%. Depending on thescore achieved 5 quality classes, according toTable 1.Table 1. Classification of fruit after scoringRating (quality category)Scorevery good 80-100good 60- 79acceptable 40-59mediocre 20-39inappropriate 0-19RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONSInfluence of drip irrigation on quantitativeand qualitative lossesThe results of the quantitative and qualitativelosses recorded by the fruit during storage atthe experimental variants are presented inTable 2.Table 2. Losses while preserving applesVar CultivarLosses (%) Remarks onTotalWeight Damage damaged fruits3.54 % grayrottennessV1 Jonathan 19.28 7.41 11.878.33% internalcollapseGoldenV224.20 8.62 15.58 gray rottennessDeliciousV3 Idared 17.55 5.17 12.38 gray rottenness4.26 % grayV4 Florina 14.66 5.88 9.08 rottenness4.82% heart rotV5 Generos 5.94 5.94 - - AVERAGE 16.33 6.60 9.78The data presented shows that total lossesduring storage are between 5.94-24.20%(depending on cultivar), with an average of16.33%. Weight loss varies between 5.17-8.62% with an average of 6.6% and by spoilingfrom 0-15.58% with an average 9.8%.The lowest total losses (5.94%) are recorded onGeneros cultivar (Figure 1).100