Respiration Rate of Sweet Cherries: 'Burlat', 'Sunburst' and 'Sweetheart' Cultivars

Oxygen depletion and CO2 formation were measured using a closed system method at various temperatures. No CO2 inhibition effect was observed. Respiration rates were related to O2 concentration by a simple Michaelis‐Menten equation. Lineweaver‐Burk plots of respiratory rate versus O2 concentration were nonlinear over the whole O2 concentration range explored. However, this type of analysis allowed us to differentiate two O2 concentration intervals (above and below 10%) in which the double reciprocal plots are linear. Respiration rates decreased with decreasing temperature following the Arrhenius law. The Michaelis‐Menten equation constants Vm and Km for the 3 cultivars at 2, 5, and 20°C are tabulated.