Vol. 86 No: 3

Title:
Effect of fruit maturity on the incidence of bitter pit, senescent breakdown, and other post-harvest disorders in 'Honeycrisp'¿ apple

Authors:
ROBERT PRANGE, JOHN DELONG, DOUG NICHOLS and PETER HARRISON

pp: 245-248

Abstract:
This study examined the effect of harvest date (fruit maturity) on the occurrence of post-harvest disorders in ‘Honeycrisp’™ apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.). Fruit were sampled from six commercial orchards in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada over two growing seasons and seven (in 2008) or nine harvest dates (in 2009). After 3 months storage in refrigerated air at 3.5ºC without delayed-cooling, soft scald, low temperature breakdown (LTB; also called soggy breakdown), bitter pit, and senescent breakdown developed in the fruit and the incidence of each varied with harvest date. Bitter pit developed in immature fruit and declined with harvest date, whereas senescent breakdown was non-existent in immature fruit and increased with harvest date. Minimum bitter pit plus senescent breakdown (combined) occurred at the mid-point of the harvest period (at approx. week-5), when internal ethylene was just beginning to appear in the fruit. An increase in fruit size (to ≥ 250 g) appeared to increase the occurrence of these two disorders. This study has shown that there is an optimum maturity (harvest date) in ‘Honeycrisp’™ apples, when the fruit are of sufficient size and colour to meet market requirements, with minimum risk of manifesting the two calcium-related disorders, bitter pit and senescent breakdown. The incidence of these two disorders may increase if fruit are picked earlier (bitter pit) or later (senescent breakdown), especially in larger fruit (≥ 250 g).

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