Respiration rate of sweet cherries: 'Burlat', 'Sunburst' and 'Sweetheart' cultivars

Oxygen depletion and CO2 formation were measured using a closed system method at various temperatures. No CO2 inhibition effect was observed, Respiration rates were related to O-2 concentration by a simple Michaelis-Menten equation. Lineweaver-Burk plots of respiratory rate versus O-2 concentration were nonlinear over the whole O-2 concentration range explored. However, this type of analysis allowed us to differentiate two O-2 concentration intervals (above and below 10%) in which the double reciprocal plots are linear. Respiration rates decreased with decreasing temperature following the Arrhenius law. The Michaelis-Menten equation constants V-m and K-m for the 3 cultivars at 2, 5, and 20 degreesC are tabulated.