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Giving aspirin to pears helps keep them fresh for longer a New Zealand horticulturist and his Chinese associate have found.
Lincoln University horticulturist Mike Morley-Bunker said he had teamed up with visiting Chinese scientist Zhang YuXing to try to respond to a consumer demand for chemical-free, longer lasting fruit.
"What we are doing is responding to consumer preference by searching for natural plant products that can be used to enhance the keeping quality of fruits and vegetables," Mr Morley-Bunker said.
He said the salicylic acid in aspirin was produced naturally by many fruits, vegetables and flowers and had roles in flower development and the ripening of fruit.
For the experiment, the weight, firmness and the sugar content of the pears was measured and some were then placed in a dilute solution of salicylic acid for 24 hours before being stored at room temperature for two weeks.
"We were very pleased to find that the treated pears had decayed much less than the untreated pears we used as controls," Professor Zhang said.
The pair were aware of the use of aspirin to extend the life of floral arrangements but couldn't find anyone in the world who had treated just the outside of the pears.
"We know that the physiological changes during fruit senescence (decay) involve a decrease in respiration rate and the production of ethylene, so we were hoping that our treatment would put the brake on these changes and delay senescence and this is what appears to have happened," Mr Morley-Bunker said.
The study involved a variety of pear called Taylor's gold, a natural mutation discovered in an orchard in Nelson in the 1980 and now popular around the world.
- NZPA
