QUALITY OF PINK LADY ® BRAND APPLE
Apple (Malus domestica Borkh, ‘Pink Lady ® brand’) fruit were harvested from one California orchard in 2002, 2003 and 2004 at two or three different maturity stages each year. Fruit were evaluated for background color, firmness, fruit size, percentage of blush, starch index (CTIFL chart), soluble solids, titratable acidity and carbon dioxide (CO2) production and immediately stored at 33 oF in air or in controlled atmosphere (CA). In 2003, additional treatments included 1 ppm of SmartFresh ® (1-MCP) or 2200 ppm of diphenylamine (DPA). Firmness, CO2 production, external condition and internal browning were determined after storage in CA or air and 5 days at 68 oF. Fruit stored in CA conserved higher firmness and produced less CO2. Internal browning was not seen in fruit stored in air, but appeared in fruit after two months storage in CA. The incidence did not increase after longer storage times. SmartFresh ® worked as well as CA in conserving the quality of the fruit. It did not affect the incidence of internal browning, but DPA inhibited internal browning completely. When comparing similar storage atmospheres for all three seasons, the incidence of internal browning was significantly different, being much higher in 2002 and 2004. A mineral analysis of the apple flesh showed differences among the seasons. Concentrations of calcium (Ca), boron (B) and magnesium (Mg) were significantly higher in 2003, corresponding with a lower incidence of internal browning.
Controlled Atmosphere and Antioxidant Effects on External CO2 Injury of `Empire' Apples
The histology of external CO 2 injury of the skin of 'Empire' apples and postharvest factors affecting occurrence of injury were investigated. Injury was greater in a 5% CO 2 /2% O 2 atmosphere than in 2% CO 2 /2% O 2 , but incidence was affected by orchard source. Susceptibility to injury was highest during the first 4 weeks of storage, while a postharvest treatment with diphenylamine prevented the disorder. Ethanol reduced injury, but ascorbic acid increased incidence of the disorder. Keeping fruit in air cold storage for 10 days before application of CO 2 markedly reduced incidence of CO 2 injury. Histological studies showed that external CO 2 injury begins at the hypodermis-cortex boundary and spreads outward into the upper hypodermis and inward into outer cortex cells, although the cuticle and epidermis appear unaffected and unbroken. Radial walls of affected cells collapse and become pleated, so that the skin surface sinks below nearby normal regions. Other cellular events include loss of cytoplasmic integrity, coagulation of the protoplast, loss of organelle structure, and cell wall separation. Nondigested starch can be found in cells of affected fruit at the hypodermis-cortex boundary. We conclude that several factors affect fruit susceptibility to CO 2 injury, including orchard, antioxidant treatment, and delays before application of CO 2 .
Philip Roth’s Great Books: A Reading of The Human Stain
Philip Roth belongs to the first generation of American novelists for whom a university education in the liberal arts was the norm. This essay charts Roth’s developing acquaintance with classical literature, the starting point for Great Books courses in the 1950s, and the implications for his fiction of his understanding of the difference in scope and purpose between the two representative classical genres. It focuses on The Human Stain (2000), the novel in which he reflects most directly upon what tragedy and epic once did, and what might happen to novels if they became more like the one or the other.