S23 - Session P4 - Red berries, a post-harvest life extended through the HDCOLD refrigeration technology

Authors: Valérie Lemetter, Kévin Vidot *, Benoît Duparc, Christophe Despierres 95% RH) atmosphere without external water supply, it also prevents the appearance of condensation on the fruits that could lead to undesired fungal development. This study aims to assess its potential on two types of red berries: Raspberry ( Rubus idaeus L., cv. Kweli®) and Sweet Cherry ( Prunus avium L. , cv . 'Samba®Sumste'). Fruits were provided on the day of the harvest by southern France producers, and immediately divided in two groups: one stored in cold rooms equipped with the HDCOLD refrigeration system (Raspberry: 1°C/98% RH; Sweet cherry: 8°C/98% RH), and the other stored in cold rooms equipped with a standard refrigeration system defined as the control sample (same temperature, non-regulated RH ranging from 80 to 95% RH, with no addition of water). The quality of both berries samples was studied through quality parameters such as weight loss, wilting, sanitary status, sugar content and total acidity after 8 days for raspberries and 17 days for sweet cherries. At the end of the experiment, while storage conditions did not have a significant impact on fungal diseases, sugar content and total acidity, the use of HDCOLD technology led to a significant decrease in weight loss for both raspberries (1.7% vs. 4.9% in the control group) and sweet cherries (1.3% vs. 7.2% for the control group). Furthermore, incidence of wilting in sweet cherries was also greatly decreased (47% vs. 77% in the control sample). To pursue the objective of a better storage, optimization of refrigeration parameters should be studied, with different temperatures and more precise regulation of the system. Furthermore, other types of berries, as well as products highly sensitive to water loss, could also beneficiate from this technology which allows more flexibility and decreased food losses.