Thermotherapy for storage disorders

Anyone heard of this?
There is a French study showing that immersion of the apples for 2 minutes in warm water at 48-49C within 7 days after harvest would have a real effect for reduction of storage disorders.
I don't know more... I just say the summary of an article. Complete article would be here:
REUSSIR FRUITS ET LEGUMES N° 363, 01/07/2016, p. 55

Jolicoeur Orchard
Zone 4 in Quebec
Author, The New Cider Maker's Handbook

Why do you speculate this might assist in fruit storage? Inhibition or facilitation of microbiology? Stimulating of protective enzyme activity in the skin of the fruit? Very interesting!

I don't think those temperatures are hot enough to kill pathogens, though it may mess with their life cycles and biological processes and reduce secondary infections. So I doubt the effect is to sanitize or kill pathogens. With Honeycrisp, the standard approach is to temper them at 50F for 7 days before putting them into 38F cold storage to reduce the potential for soft scald. Of course these temps are totally different from what Claude is quoting (I couldn't find the original article), but the approach may be similar and have to do with the biochemical processes of the apple, perhaps toughening the cuticle, denaturing enzymes or precursors to abiotic storage disorders. Clause can you post the text of the original article here in the forum?

Mike Biltonen, Know Your Roots
Zone 5b in New York

Mike Biltonen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Claude can you post the text of the original article here
> in the forum?

Sorry Mike, I don't have it. I only saw a summary with reference to the article given above.
There isn't much in the summary:

Quote
Summary as written in BioPresse #229
Afin de lutter contre les maladies de conservation
des pommes, une technique consiste à immerger les
pommes dans de l'eau chaude : c'est la thermothérapie.
Dans le cadre du réseau national Conservation, la
station expérimentale de la Morinière, en Indre-et-Loire,
a conduit des essais sur cette technique. Ils ont
permis de montrer des résultats probants, sur pommes
conventionnelles et biologiques, et de définir les
conditions optimales d'application : temps d'immersion
de deux minutes, température de 48-49°C, application
dans les sept jours suivant la récolte. Quelques résultats
d'efficacité pour plusieurs variétés sont présentés.

Jolicoeur Orchard
Zone 4 in Quebec
Author, The New Cider Maker's Handbook

Je ne suis pas d'accord. I see Claude is misinterpreting the French once again. A simple matter for a guy like me to fix . . . the key to this technique is to dip the freshly harvested fruit in warm urine. Now let the cuticle theorists get their heads around that!

I say this knowing full well there will be troubles on the border tonight. We're located very close to Quebec and obviously have Claude on the watch list. But who knew you could have so much fun in this forum?

Lost Nation Orchard
Zone 4b in New Hampshire



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2017 11:41PM by Michael Phillips.