ASHS 2025 Conference

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba), a North American tree fruit, belongs to the Annonaceae family and is the only temperate member of this family. Pawpaw is emerging as an alternative high-value niche crop for small farms in Kentucky and surrounding states; however, due to its highly perishable nature, the marketing window for fresh fruit is currently limited. Pawpaw fruit can only be stored for 3-5 days at room temperature or for about 1 month under cold storage at 4 °C. The objective of this study was to examine the efficiency of modified atmosphere with plastic packaging in cold storage to increase the shelf-life of pawpaw fruit and its impact on the quality attributes of fruit. This experiment was conducted with fruit from the pawpaw cultivar Sunflower. Fruits were harvested and stored in three treatments of modified atmosphere in 2.5-gallon plastic container bags, with the treatments of 1) plastic bag with ambient air (Control), 2) plastic bag with an additional ethylene absorber, and 3) plastic bag with modified atmosphere of low oxygen and high carbon dioxide gas mix (12% O2 and 10% CO2 and balance nitrogen). There were three replicate bags per treatment with each bag containing three fruits. Fruits were stored at 6 °C. Data on gas composition in bags and quality parameters of fruit such as firmness, brix, color (L*, a*, b*), and weight were taken on 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 days of storage. The ethylene absorber and gas mix treatments maintained lower ethylene concentrations inside the bags as compared to the control. The gas mix treatment resulted in reduced fruit weight loss and maintained the lightness of fruit pulp significantly. However, firmness in all fruits significantly declined after 20 days of storage in all treatments. These data suggest that the ethylene absorber and gas mix treatments during cold storage have at least some potential for extending shelf-life of pawpaw, with additional modifications or harvest times.