Abstract

An experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of the thyme and lavenderessential oils on some qualitative and quantitative traits and storage life of 'Jonagold' apple. The study was arranged as factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor included different levels of thyme essential oils solutions (0, 25, 100 and 200 ppb) and the second was lavender essential oils solutions (0, 25 and 100 ppb). Treated fruits were stored 160 days in a cold storage with 0 to 2°C and 85 to 90% relative humidity. Traits in the experiment includes: Fruit firmness, titrable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), acidity (pH), ethylene production, fruit flavor index (TSS/TA), percentage of weight loss, Perlim and Thiault indexes. Results showed that the treatments which received 100 ppb thyme essential oil solutions increased titrable acidity and prelim index. Also, it decreased TSS, TSS/TA ratio and weight loss percentage, but the other traits was not affected with thyme essential oil treatment. Lavender essential oil solutions were not affected except the percentage of weight loss. Treatments that had received both factors were maintained fruit firmness and Perlim and Thiault indexes but ethylene production and percentage of weight loss had as significant reduction. Interaction between thyme and lavender essential oils had no significant effect on other traits.

Key words: Apple, essential oil, thyme, lavender, storage life, ‘Jonagold’.