This study was designed to identify carotenoids, to investigate the change in the carotenoid pattern, and to see how they are related to the arrest of color development affected by controlled atmosphere (CA) storage conditions in the peel of ´Fuji´ apple fruit.
During ripening and storage at 20℃ the level of β-carotene (pro-vitamin A) decreased following the general increasing trend of the total carotenoids. The sharp reduction of β-carotene was found from 22.0% to 9.8% during cold storage for 2 months and from 22. 0% to 11.6% and 12.7% during CA storage for 4 months. Lutein, the main pigment in the green peel, was sharply reduced after 2 months at 20℃, while little change was found during cold and CA storage. Zeaxanthin containing red color disappeared totally in cold and CA storage conditions after 2 months, but in the modified atmosphere (MA) condition it accumulated within 4 months to higher level than that before storage. Violaxanthin, a chromoplast pigment, showed a rapid increase from 9.0% at harvest to 59.5% at 20℃ and to 31.9% of total carotenoids at 0℃. In CA storage a relatively small amount of violaxanthin accumulated as compared to 20℃ and cold (0℃) storage. These results suggest that ripening may be delayed by CA treatments. Among CA, MA, cold (0℃) and 20℃ storage, the most amounts of neoxanthin were synthesized in two CA conditions. Auroxanthin, luteoxanthin, antheraxanthin, and chrysanthemaxanthin, which existed in a little amount, showed no pronounced changes during storage.
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