Controlled Atmosphere Storage of Sweet Cherries (Prunus avium L.)

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars 'Emperor Francis', 'Huldra', 'Sam', 'Stella', 'Kristin', and 'Van' were stored in controlled atmosphere (CA) during one, two or three seasons. The cherries were held at a temperature of 0°C, or 2°C for up to three weeks. The fruit quality was evaluated on juice optical density (OD), titratable acidity (TA), pH, soluble solids content (SSC), ethanol, firmness and flavour. In general, CA had little effect on SSC in the three seasons and did not show any effects in reducing pitting. Controlled atmosphere has shown some beneficial effects on flavour, reducing decay, reducing toughening, and maintaining TA in sweet cherries. Generally, flavour score was higher for fruit kept in CA than for fruit stored in air, and the higher the CO₂ the better the taste. 'Van' and 'Sam' showed excellent taste scores after three weeks both from CA and air storage. There was very little ethanol accumulation in the fruits under CA, and it was well below the detrimental level. It is recommended that O₂ levels for sweet cherry storage can be further reduced below 10% and/or CO₂ can be increased above 15%.