OPTIMIZATION OF STORAGE-CONDITIONS FOR UC-157 ASPARAGUS

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L. cv. UC 157) was harvested in 3 seasons over 3 months and held at various temperatures, controlled atmospheres and relative humidities, and in dips, to optimise storage conditions. The optimum storage temperature was 1.5-degrees-C, and precooling needed to be applied with the shortest possible delay after harvest. However, asparagus became more sensitive to chilling and lost 3 of 4 weeks of storage life and 2 of 5 days of shelf life at 20-degrees-C as the season progressed. Increasing the relative humidity from recommended 94 to 100% reduced weight loss but not quality, and wetting of spears during cooling did not reduce quality provided butt rots were controlled by dipping asparagus butts in saturated calcium hypochlorite. Continuous storage of spears with their butt in aqueous solutions reduced quality due to rotting, splitting and bending, but controlled atmospheres of 8-15% CO2/18-19% O2 extended storage life at 1.5-degrees-C by 1 week and shelf life at 20-degrees-C by 2 days.