Abstract
<jats:p>Abstract. The article presents an analysis of the stages of formation and management of apple fruit quality, considered in one end-to-end technological process, covering the whole chain – from orchard to consumer, where technological methods at each stage have their own specificity and set of solutions. Quality management at the stage of cultivation, where the key are agrotechnical methods based on the choice of varieties in intensive type orchards, varietal and scion-rootstock combinations, including the rootstock bred by Center (SK2, SK4, SK7), taking into account the system of balanced nutrition, aimed at forming resistance to the development of physiological diseases during storage, the formation of marketable qualities on the basis of crop rationing with the help of growth regulators, optimizing the timing of harvesting is the primary filter that allows to get a premium product. It has been analyzed and proved that the period of postharvest storage, aimed at inhibition of ripening and aging processes, turns into an engineering-biological task, actively controlling the metabolism of apples under different storage regimes, where innovative and widely demanded technologies of controlled atmosphere (MA, CA, ULO, DCA), successfully solve the issues of slowing down respiration, ripening of fruits, reduction of physiological damage by 2-3 times, which allows to maximally prolong storability, preserve their original quality. It has been established that at the processing stage there are opportunities to significantly extend the life cycle of fruits by giving them a new value, the period of their consumption from 6-9 months to 24-36 months, opening marginal niches of production of functional foods. The performed research will allow to synthesize quality management methods into a single digital ecosystem of traceability, which will allow to identify the origin of defects (physiological disturbance, mechanical damage, microbiological losses) at any stage of cultivation and processing of raw materials. Keywords: fruits, apple tree, chemical parameters, quality, storage, processing Financing source: The research was carried out within the State Task of Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the FSBSI NCFSCHVW.</jats:p>