Scald can be controlled by postharvest chemical treatments such as: diphenylamine (DPA) or 1-methylcyclopropane (1-MCP) or dynamically controlled atmospheres (DCA).
Dynamically controlled atmospheres
Dynamically controlled atmospheres (DCA) are a non-chemical method for managing scald and maintaining the postharvest quality of apples in long-term cold storage.
This system has been researched for many years and is used commercially in many apple storage rooms around the world, including Australia.
DCA maintains very low oxygen storage in the controlled atmosphere (CA) storage room for long-term storage.
The dynamic maintenance of low oxygen in the storage atmosphere is done using methods such as chlorophyll fluorescence or ethanol levels.
DCA can be an effective tool to manage scald during storage, but it is not practical in all long-term storage situations as it relies on good air-tight CA storage rooms. Many commercial CA rooms in Australia are older and not sufficiently airtight to maintain the very low oxygen levels required for DCA to be effective.
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See this article in Tree Fruit August 2022
