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12Table 5: Flesh firmness (lb) of untreated or ReTain-treated Empire fruit from four Western New Yorkorchards after 5 months of CA storage, evaluated after 1 day at 68 o F.Harvest date Orchard # Flesh firmness (lb)Control ReTain-treated9/28/99 1 15.2 15.82 15.4 16.03 15.5 15.54 14.8 15.710/7/99 1 14.0 14.22 14.2 14.53 14.2 13.84 13.5 14.3Table 6: Flesh firmness (lb) of Empire apples from four orchards in Western New York that were eitheruntreated or sprayed preharvest with ReTain. Fruit were stored under CA conditions for 5 months, eitherseparated or mixed, and tested after 1 or 7 days at 68 o F.Storage type Untreated ReTain-treated1 day 7 days 1 day 7 daysSeparate 15.2b 14.2de 15.8a 14.4cdMixed 15.5b 14.0e 15.4b 14.7cEthrel effects on storage quality of McIntoshIn the Hudson Valley, spraying Ethrelon McIntosh trees to enhance fruit color andallow harvest before fruit drop occurs hasbecome a standard management procedure forthe industry. We are often asked about the effectsof treatment on fruit quality, especially as somegrowers then store treated fruit under CAconditions. Ed Stover and I ran trials in 1996involving storage of Ethrel -treated fruit.Standard procedures used by theHudson Valley growers were followed. Theseinvolved harvest of fruit within a 6-day windowafter Ethrel treatment (August 30). Fruit weretransported to Ithaca, cooled overnight, and CAatmospheres applied. Fruit were assessed after 3and 6 months, plus 1 or 7 days at 68 o F.Firmness of Ethrel -treated fruitharvested on September 4 was 14.3 lb comparedwith 15.0 lb in the untreated control fruit. Bothuntreated and treated fruit softened duringstorage for either 3 or 6 months, but Ethrel -treated fruit were always softer 1 day afterremoval (Table 7). Effects of treatment weresmall after a 7-day shelf life period. No effects oftreatment on incidence of disorders weredetected.What does one conclude from thesedata? Ethrel-treatment permits harvest of fruitwith marketable color before excessive fruit dropoccurs. The present market puts a premium oncolor, rather than firmness, and in the absence offirmness standards this situation is likely tocontinue. However, our results suggest thatEthrel -treated McIntosh should not be held inCA more than 3 months. These data wereobtained using fruit harvested at the latter part ofthe window for Ethrel use, i.e., 4-6 days after