Effect of Grape Guard Pads on Extended Storage Life of Fruits of Rotabi and Siah-e-Samarghandi Grape Cultivars

Rotabi and Siah-Samarghandi are two major grape cultivars grown in Fars province, Iran. Post-harvest management is a major concern during transportation and cold storage of fruits of these cultivars mainly berry shattering and decay. This research was carried out to study the effect of grape guard pads on extended storage life of fruits of Rotabi and Siah-Samarghandi grape cultivars. Freshly harvested fruits (based on full coloring of berries) for each cultivar were packed in plastic boxes of 7 kg capacity and enclosed with perforated and imperforated plastic bags including one or two SO2 generating pad(s). These boxes were stored in cold store at 1± 1ºC and 85-90% relative humidity. Results showed that using two grape guard pads (one below and one over the fruits) enclosed with perforated plastic bag for cv. Siah-e-Samarghandi proved to be effective to maintain stem freshness (95%), berry shattering (0%) and berry decay (0%) as well as other quality attributes by 120 days in cold storage. Flavor of berries of cv. Rotabi was highly affected by SO2, hence, this cultivar is not suitable for being stored in cold storage using grape guard pads. The control boxes (without grape guard pads) could only be stored for 25 days.