INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD ENGINEERING, cilt.8, sa.3, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
Recently, plant growth regulators have been used for multiple purposes in free fruits. NAA (1-naphthalene acetic acid) and AVG (aminoethoxyvinylglycine) have been widely used in apple fruit. NAA and AVG have been used to control preharvest fruit drop and improve the quality of fruit. In this study, the effects NAA (20 mgL-1), AVG (500 mgL-1) and control (non treatment) treatments on physical, chemical, colour characteristics and mechanical properties of apple (cv. Braeburn) were investigated. The higher length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, fruit mass, surface area, projected area, volume, fruit and bulk densities were obtained in AVG treatment. Total acidity, total soluble solid content and starch starch index were higher in control as compared to NAA and AVG treatments. Total phenolic content of the flesh apple was higher than the other treatments. While total antioxidant activities of skin and flesh fruit were higher in AVG according to FRAP method, total monomeric anthocyanin was lower in AVG as compared to the other treatments. AVG treatment generally had positive impacts on fruit removal force, skin and flesh firmnesses because retarding the fruit ripening.