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Horticulturae
Volume 12
Issue 7
10.3390/horticulturae12070839
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Article

Evaluation of the Potential to Extend the Harvest Period of ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ Apples by Preharvest 1-MCP Treatment

by
Zoltán Sasvár
1,
Lien Le Phuong Nguyen
2,
Zsuzsanna Horváth-Mezőfi
2,*,
Tamás Zsom
2,
László Ferenc Friedrich
2 and
Géza Hitka
2
1
Doctoral School of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), H-1118 Budapest, Hungary
2
Institute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), H-1118 Budapest, Hungary
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Horticulturae 2026, 12(7), 839; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12070839
Submission received: 9 June 2026 / Revised: 1 July 2026 / Accepted: 6 July 2026 / Published: 9 July 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pre- and Post-Harvest Treatments for Fruit and Vegetables)
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Abstract

The duration of the effective harvest period is of great interest among growers. Longer periods enable better workload and optimization of operations. Decisions are typically made based on fruit drop and firmness. Preharvest spray treatment of Harvista™ (1-methylcyclopropene; AgroFresh Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA) was applied to ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ apples to delay maturation. Apples were harvested 7–21 days and 7–26 days after treatment for ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Gala’, respectively. Fruit drop, fruit diameter, ethylene production, firmness, soluble solids content (SSC), starch index and color were measured. Measurements were performed at harvest and after 7 days’ shelf life. Quality parameters suggest different extensions to the harvest period. The SSC models showed that a 5% increase can occur with longer than 6 days delay in harvest. The starch index models showed 9.6 days’ delay for ‘Gala’ and 6.3 days’ delay for ‘Golden Delicious’ apples. The accurate measurement of firmness and the performance of its models suggest that the harvest period can be extended by 12 days for ‘Gala’ and 11 days for ‘Golden Delicious’ apples, when fruit are subjected to preharvest spray treatment.
Keywords: 1-MCP; postharvest storage; shelf life; Malus domestica; Harvista™ 1-MCP; postharvest storage; shelf life; Malus domestica; Harvista™
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MDPI and ACS Style

Sasvár, Z.; Nguyen, L.L.P.; Horváth-Mezőfi, Z.; Zsom, T.; Friedrich, L.F.; Hitka, G. Evaluation of the Potential to Extend the Harvest Period of ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ Apples by Preharvest 1-MCP Treatment. Horticulturae 2026, 12, 839. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12070839

AMA Style

Sasvár Z, Nguyen LLP, Horváth-Mezőfi Z, Zsom T, Friedrich LF, Hitka G. Evaluation of the Potential to Extend the Harvest Period of ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ Apples by Preharvest 1-MCP Treatment. Horticulturae. 2026; 12(7):839. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12070839

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sasvár, Zoltán, Lien Le Phuong Nguyen, Zsuzsanna Horváth-Mezőfi, Tamás Zsom, László Ferenc Friedrich, and Géza Hitka. 2026. "Evaluation of the Potential to Extend the Harvest Period of ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ Apples by Preharvest 1-MCP Treatment" Horticulturae 12, no. 7: 839. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12070839

APA Style

Sasvár, Z., Nguyen, L. L. P., Horváth-Mezőfi, Z., Zsom, T., Friedrich, L. F., & Hitka, G. (2026). Evaluation of the Potential to Extend the Harvest Period of ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ Apples by Preharvest 1-MCP Treatment. Horticulturae, 12(7), 839. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12070839

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