ß-Farnesene exogenous application as a novel damage induction model to fast explore the effectiveness of postharvest strategies: the case study of the ‘Rocha’ pear DOP

Since the prohibition of diphenylamine, replacement strategies have been needed for long-term disorder prevention, namely superficial scald (SC), in fruit. However, as this disorder only appears after months under cold storage, the assessment of effective strategies to prevent this disorder requires long periods. To tackle this challenge, we report in this paper a rapid and reliable system to induce symptoms, such as SC, based on storage under a β-farnesene-enriched atmosphere. Using this model, SC symptoms in ‘Rocha’ pear were induced after 15 d at 20◦ C. As proof of concept, this model system allowed the study of the efficiency of antioxidant natural-based coatings on ‘Rocha’ pear quality maintenance. Pears treated with the coatings were submitted to 4 months of commercial storage under normal atmosphere conditions and the results were compared with those obtained using the induction model system. A PCA of chemical data allowed us to conclude that the model developed simulates the potential of certain strategies to prevent disorders.