Treatment and storage conditions
Apples stored under refrigeration (4 C) were transported
weekly to the laboratory in Porto. 30 apples were randomly selected for each experiment from the whole
bulk available. They were initially washed with chlorinated water (150 ppm of active chlorine for 5 min) to prevent surface contamination. After peeling and coring, each apple was cut into cubes of 1.5 cm, which were randomly selected for different experiments. Apple cubes were then dipped in distilled water. Three replicates of 60 cubes were used for each experiment. Apple samples were stored in closed plastic boxes permeable to air, in the dark at 4 C for 10days. Samples were evaluated in terms of several quality attributes listed below at different times of storage