These results are similar to those obtained by Napolitano
et al. After 4-month storage of ‘Red Delicious’ and
‘Annurca’ apples cv., they observed significant decrease of
all polyphenolic classes concentrations. However, in apples
‘Empire’ and ‘Golden Delicious,’ they observed increase
of total polyphenolics. Also Hoang, Golding and Wilkes
[32] in ‘Cripps Pink’ apples after treated with 1-MCP and
stored in normal and controlled atmosphere at 0 °C for up
to 160 days observed that the level of phenolics decreased
by 9 % in the peel.
The polyphenol concentrations of apples depend
strongly on the cultivar. Apple phenolics are
mainly localized in the peel and in the seeds. Progressive
depolymerization of the major classes of cell wall polysaccharide,
such as pectins, cellulose and hemicellulose during
apple storage, can lead to the excessive softening, resulting
in heavy postharvest losses. For example, the content
of (−)-epicatechin and (+)-catechin may decrease during
storage due to polymerization and re-arrangement of