Effect of 12% CO2 during storage on quality of Allison seedless table grapes from Spain: GreenCHAINge WP1 - Table Grapes

Table grapes produced in South Africa and South America are transported in Reefer containers to the Netherlands. This takes two to three weeks’ time, depending on the route and the transport company.Usually SO2-pads are used to suppress development of fungal infection during long term transport. The use of SO2-pads is increasingly under pressure. In literature several alternatives have been presented.Previous research (ExperiCo, 2015) showed elevated levels of CO2 to give promising results. However, finding the right concentration is a trade-off between Botrytis suppression and the evolution of an off taste.The goal of this study:To investigate whether elevated levels of CO2 can suppress Botrytis infection in Allison seedless table grapes from Spain during storage without causing off flavour. Allison seedless table grapes from Spain (week 45 in 2016), suffered a lot from fungal infection. This fungal infection was already visible in the starting material.High CO2 applied in a flow through system (12% CO2 and 18% O2) could supress fungal infection during storage to certain extent.The results of this experiment are promising. However, since infection levels were very high already at the start of the experiment, it has to be repeated before final conclusions can be drawn concerning the effectivity of the treatment and the effect on taste.