A Short History of Apple Storage
Like most other fruits, apples
have a definite season in which they are ripened
and harvested. The fruit is picked, processed,
and packed, then put in cold storage until
it is eventually shipped to market. This is
similar to what we do at home when we place
apples in the refrigerator to keep them fresh
and juicy.
Long-term apple storage has been
common practice for over 40 years by the apple
industry around the world -- apples are stored
for long periods of time so that consumers
can enjoy apples year 'round, rather than just
during peak seasons. Even an organic apple,
if it is out of season, has almost surely been
held in cold storage.
This practice actually originated
centuries ago when farmers would store apples
and other types of produce in root cellars.
As the apple industry evolved, new innovations
followed that allowed for advancements in storage
practices including, for example, controlling
temperatures, managing the atmosphere of the
air, limiting natural light and so forth --
all to slow ripening and extend the shelf life
of the apples.
Kept under cold storage, with
carefully regulated temperature and humidity,
the fruit may be held for months; in rare cases
it may even be held in storage for nearly a
year. In fact, if apples were sold only in
season, they would be available for just a
few months of the year, then be unavailable
(except for opposite season imports from Southern
hemisphere producers) until the next season.
Instead, thanks to cold storage practices consumers
have ready access to one of nature's most healthful
and tasty snacks 365 days a year.
SmartFresh
Quality System: Enhancing & Advancing
Apple Storage
SmartFresh
did not create long term apple storage. The
practice has been in
place for decades—allowing consumers
to enjoy a steady supply of fresh, quality
apples. The SmartFresh quality system is a
technological breakthrough that actually enhances
apple storage by maintaining both the quality
and the nutritional benefits of the already-stored
apples. In doing this, SmartFresh, which has
been hailed as the most important advancement
since Controlled Atmosphere storage was invented
some 46 years ago, ensures that the apples
consumers purchase are better quality, crunchier,
juicier and maintain important nutrition benefits.
Once shipped to market, cold storage
apples typically have a short shelf life and
may spoil rapidly if not refrigerated. Long
term storage is important in order to provide
consumers with fresh apples throughout the
year. However, many apple varieties lose their
flavor and firmness (juice and crunchiness)
in long term storage. With SmartFresh, apples
harvested at their peak of quality have that
same just-harvested flavor, firmness -- and
also nutrition benefits -- maintained throughout
the cold storage process as well as on through
retail sale and enjoyment by consumers.
After rigorous testing by regulatory
experts in more than 20 countries, the SmartFresh
quality system has been shown to work in a
proven, safe way to temporarily slow the effects
of ethylene, nature's own ripening process,
to provide high quality fruits and vegetables.
When SmartFresh is present, the negative effects
of ripening occur at a much slower rate, so
the freshness, quality, and just-harvested
appearance and nutrition of fruits is sustained.
SmartFresh does not alter or change the nature
of fruit in storage. Instead, it helps maintain
quality and nutrition over time by safely blocking
the ethylene that causes fruit to ripen and
decay.
In summary, the SmartFresh quality
system does two key things:
- It provides
nutritional benefits for consumers by enabling
their consumption
of better quality fruits and vegetables year ‘round
- It reduces spoilage because
less fruit is discarded as unsaleable and
therefore uneaten.
Studies demonstrate that
in the United States, consumption of apples
has increased because consumers are getting
a better quality product. Studies also show
that apples stored with the SmartFresh quality
system retain their nutritional benefits
over time. For consumers, who have long enjoyed
the benefits of a ready supply of apples,
SmartFresh is simply more good news in delivering
better quality and more nutritious apples.
