Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Sustaining the quality of temperate fruits like apples post-harvest requires controlled atmosphere (CA) or cold storage.
During storage, fruits can develop various physiological disorders that are not caused by pathogens but by low-temperature stress or gas imbalances.
Understanding when and why these storage disorders develop is crucial to minimizing post-harvest losses.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Assertion (A) is incorrect:
Brown core (also known as core browning or brown heart) of apple does not develop in the orchard at the time of fruit set.
Fruit set is the initial stage of fruit development immediately following pollination and fertilization.
Brown core is strictly a post-harvest physiological disorder that manifests during the storage phase of mature harvested fruit.
Reason (R) is correct:
Brown core is a low-temperature storage disorder.
It typically develops when susceptible apple cultivars are stored for long periods at low temperatures, specifically in the range of \(-1^\circ\text{C}\) to \(2^\circ\text{C}\).
The disorder is characterized by a distinct browning of the core tissue, including the carpels and surrounding flesh, while the outer cortex of the apple remains normal.
Its development is aggravated by elevated levels of carbon dioxide (\(\text{CO}_2\)) in controlled atmosphere storage.
This high \(\text{CO}_2\) restricts cellular respiration, leading to toxic metabolite accumulation and cellular breakdown in the core.
Since Assertion (A) is false but Reason (R) is true, the correct option is (D).
Step 3: Final Answer:
Consequently, (A) is not correct but (R) is correct.