In the conditions of amateur cultivation, the crops from our orchard are usually stored in the cellar. Read what to do to keep apples and pears from your own plot fresh and fresh for as long as possible. What affects the shelf life of stored fruit and how to protect it from rotting and diseases? Here are some tips for much longerstorage of fruitin the cellar.
Fruit storage
Cold storage of fruit
In order for the fruit to retain its freshness and flavor for a long time, it is necessaryto store the fruitin appropriate conditions.Fruits picked up from trees breathe all the time, transpire (lose water) and are subject to disease processes. As a result of these processes, the taste of the fruit deteriorates, its flesh becomes softer and the skin wrinkles. They can also rot.
In order to prevent these unfavorable phenomena and to preserve the freshness of the fruit as long as possible, wholesalers store them in special rooms. Most often they are cold stores (they allow to maintain a sufficiently low temperature and high air humidity) or cooling chambers with a controlled atmosphere (gas-tight rooms in which, in addition to lowering the temperature and increasing air humidity, it is also possible to reduce the oxygen content in the air, which significantly slows down the aging processes. fruit). Such conditions allow you to store the fruit for more than half a year.
Storing fruit in the cellar
In the conditions of amateur cultivationwe store fruitusually in cellars and we do not have the ability to control the temperature and humidity of the air, let alone its chemical composition, as in professional storage rooms.However, with certain rules, we may be able to store apples and pears harvested from our orchard even until January.
Below I present a set of tips that will allow you to significantly extend the periodof fruit storagein your cellar. Of course, the first step to success is a properly carried out fruit collection from the garden, which we wrote about earlier.
How to prepare a fruit storage room
In amateur conditions, forstoring apples and pearsyou need a dark room, protected against frost, but at the same time quite cool, with the possibility of ventilation (e.g. opening windows). Most often, these conditions are achieved in the basement.
It is worth placing a thermometer in the basement. The ideal storage temperature for apples is from 0 to +4 degrees C, and for pears from -1 to +1 degrees C. Such temperatures are kept in cold stores. Maintaining these temperatures in the cellar will be difficult, but it is worth trying to ensure similar conditions for the fruit as far as possible.If the thermometer shows too high a temperature, the basement will need to be aired. Ventilation helps not only regulate the temperature but also remove the ethylene secreted by the stored fruit. The excess of ethylene accelerates the ripening of the fruit and shortens the possible shelf life.
The cellar forfruit storageshould be prepared before harvest time. About 3 weeks before storage, the basement must be whitened. It is also worth spraying the room with a fungicide, e.g. copper (this should be done very carefully!). Thanks to this, you will avoid contamination of the fruit with fungal diseases by pathogens that may have survived in the cellar from the previous year. The fruit crates should also be cleaned and decontaminated.
Which fruit to choose for storage
Gardeners and orchard owners in home gardens can usually affordstorage of apples and pears The fruits of late autumn and winter varieties are suitable for storage. Harvest the fruit for about 1 to 2 weeks before they are ripe for consumption. In order not to miss this moment, watch the orchard and start harvesting when the first fruits start falling from the trees.
Collected fruits should be reviewed and sorted. Only the best quality fruit is suitable for storage. They must be he althy, with no signs of rotting or worming, and their skin must not be damaged. Any damage toof stored fruitaccelerates their deterioration. Unfortunately, one perishable fruit adversely affects other stored fruit. That is why it is so important to be careful during harvest and to choose only the best fruit to store.
For storage, choose only he althy fruit, no skin damage
How to handle stored fruit
Place the fruit selected for storage in openwork (airy) boxes.Place the boxes in columns, one on top of the other. The boxes first from the bottom should not be placed directly on the floor. It is better to put them on wooden sleepers so that there is free space under the bottom of the boxes.
It is a good idea to cover the fruit boxes with polyethylene foil in advance and on the sides. This will preventstored fruitfrom losing water quickly and help slow down the ripening process. By the way, the fruit will not get dusty either.
Covering with foil has another advantage. Well, the fruit is easily dissipated with the smells of other products. The foil will act as an insulating layer, reducing the risk of odors passing through. However, it is best not to store other products with apples and pears, especially onions or sauerkraut.
With a small amount ofapples stored , wrapping each apple in greased paper is also a good idea. Holding the apple lightly, fold the edges of the paper carefully.
Storing fruit in wooden, openwork boxes
In the first few weeks offruit storageit is usually too warm, so check the temperature and ventilate the cellar. Ventilation will not only lower the temperature but also, as I mentioned earlier, remove excess ethylene.
Another issue is maintaining high air humidity. When it is too dry, the fruit quickly loses the water contained in it, which results in wrinkling of their skin and, of course, reduces the food value. In professional cold stores, the air humidity is around 90%. In the amateurstorage of fruit in the cellarthe conditions will be far from ideal, but you can improve the situation by pouring water on the floor or placing containers filled with water in the cellar. The water will slowly evaporate, humidifying the air.
In the following months - December and January - browse through the stored fruit. The ones that mature the fastest should be eaten first.
Attention!Be sure to remove rotting fruit. The toxins secreted by fruit rot fungi are dangerous to our he alth. Any rotten fruit, even if only slightly, must be discarded whole. It is forbidden to eat even the undamaged parts of such fruits!
One more note is necessary at this point. Removal of spoilage fruit is of course necessary. However, reviewing them in order to catch the perishable ones should not be overdone. Remember that every movement, shifting the fruit crushes them and transfers any spores of the fungus to other, he althy fruit. Therefore, review the fruit very carefully.
I hope that the application of the above tips will allow you to enjoy the taste of fruit from your own orchard in winter:)
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