Checklists for improved apricot quality Clyde: Jill Stanley, Ross Marshall, Christina Fullerton, Elizabeth Campbell Mt Albert: Ringo Feng, Shane Olsson, Yingfei Cao, Feryal Varasteh, Amy Paisley, Anne White, Mary Petley, Allan Woolf
Acknowledgments Orchards & fruit Harry Roberts Ian Nichol et al., Summerfruit Orchards Kevin Paulin, Alpine Packhouse MA bags Brent Rogers, Future Fresh Ltd Summerfruit Orchards Statistical advice Peter Alspach: statistics advice
Consumers Always remember the consumer has the last word (first word) Consumer trial 8 Treatments 2 cultivars (Clutha Gold & Vulcan) x 2 crop loads (Low & High) x 2 maturity classes (M2 & M3) 24 consumers
SSC (%) Soluble solids concentration 17 16 15 Low crop load High crop load 14 13 12 11 10 M2 M3 M2 M3 Clutha Gold Vulcan
DMC (%) Dry matter concentration 17 16 15 Low crop load High crop load 14 13 12 11 10 M2 M3 M2 M3 Clutha Gold Vulcan
Liking score Liking score Like more 8 Low crop load 7 * High crop load 6 5 Like less 4 Clutha Gold Vulcan
Liking score Like more 6 5.8 Liking score Clutha Gold Vulcan 5.6 5.4 5.2 Like less 5 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 SSC (%)
Is the consumer prepared to pay a Prepared to pay more Pay more 4 higher price? * Low crop load High crop load 3 2 1 Not pay more 0 Clutha Gold Vulcan
Key points: consumers Consumers preferred fruit from lower crop loads Consumers preferred fruit with higher SSC
Checklists Winter pruning Thinning Harvesting Coolstoring
Winter Pruning Ensure good light penetration into all parts of the canopy Be prepared to make big cuts to remove large branches which are cluttering the canopy You should have sunflecks right into the middle of the canopy
Percent full sunlight Clutha Gold Centre Leader 66 48 70 43 27 33 48 24 27 31 18 20 Genevieve Multi Leader 58 56 46 32 30 35 21 19 16 18 14 12
Fruit weight Clutha Gold Centre Leader 81g Genevieve Multi Leader 76g 75g 76g
Soluble solids concentration Clutha Gold Centre Leader 15.0% Genevieve Multi Leader 15.9% 13.9% 15.0%
Dry matter concentration Clutha Gold Centre Leader 14.8% Genevieve Multi Leader 16.6% 13.9% 15.8%
Mealiness score Maturity class 2 Clutha Gold Centre Leader 0.31 0.29 Genevieve Multi Leader 0.19 0.17 Maturity class 3 0.50 0.36 0.29 0.14
Key points: canopy position Lower canopy: Low light, smaller fruit & lower SSC & DMC Upper canopy: higher light, larger fruit & higher SSC & DMC. Very mature fruit is more prone to postharvest disorders
Fruit Thinning Ensure you thin the trees to medium crop load Reducing fruit numbers too much will reduce the yield to unacceptable levels Treat each tree individually, considering it s girth and canopy size
Yield (tonnes per ha) Yield 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 2 4 6 8 Crop load (fruit per cm2 TCA)
Mean fruit weight (g) Mean fruit weight 100 95 Harvest 1 Harvest 2 Harvest 3 90 85 80 0 2 4 6 8 Crop load (fruit per cm 2 TCA)
DMC (%) Flesh firmness (kgf) SSC (%) Fruit quality at harvest 13 12 11 10 Harvest 1 Harvest 2 Harvest 3 13 4.8 4.6 12 11 4.4 4.2 4 3.8 10 Harvest 1 Harvest 2 Harvest 3 3.6 Harvest 1 Harvest 2 Harvest 3
SSC (%) Soluble solids concentration after storage 13.5 13.4 13.3 Low crop load Medium crop load High crop load 13.2 13.1 13.0 12.9 12.8 65 75 85 95 105 Fruit size (g)
Mealiness score More mealy 0.45 0.40 Mealiness score Low crop load Medium crop load High crop load 0.35 0.30 Less mealy 0.25 65 75 85 95 105 Fruit size (g)
Key points: crop load Low crop load: fruit were larger yield was lower Higher SSC than high crop load smaller fruit had higher SSC fruit of all sizes had few postharvest disorders Fruit from the first harvest were smaller but had higher SSC & DMC (most likely fruit from high light parts of the tree)
Harvesting: Fruit maturity issues Tighten up on range of fruit maturities that pickers are harvesting Ideally harvest fruit between flesh firmness of 3.5 to 5.5kgf (maturity class 2) Get pickers to leave greener fruit, particularly if it is small
Flesh firmness (kgf) M1 Flesh firmness M2 M3 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 At harvest or immediately after storage After 4 days shelf-life at 20C 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 Days from harvest
SSC (%) Soluble solids concentration 18 M1 M2 M3 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 At harvest or immediately after storage After 4 days shelf-life at 20C 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 Days from harvest
Mealiness score More mealy 1.2 1.0 0.8 M1 Mealiness Score M2 M3 At harvest or immediately after storage After 4 days shelf-life at 20C 0.6 0.4 0.2 Less mealy 0.0 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 Days from harvest
No fruit 0 2 4 6 8 10 No fruit 0 5 10 15 20 Commercially-packed 5kg box 30 fruit sample Clutha Gold H2 Cluthagold H1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Flesh firmness (kgf) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Flesh firmness (kgf)
Key points: maturity at harvest Fruit harvested at 6kgf or more: didn t soften properly, low SSC, few postharvest disorders Fruit harvested at 4 to 5.5kgf: intermediate SSC and postharvest disorders. Best for longer storage. Fruit harvested at 3 to 4kg firmness had highest SSC. Good if storing for a short time
Coolstore Keep coolstores as close to 0 C as possible Use dataloggers to monitor their performance Move dataloggers to different positions in the coolstore
Commercial coolstore: bin store 9 C 4 C 2 C 0 C 14 Jan 31 Jan
Flesh firmness (kgf) Flesh firmness (kgf) One degree makes a difference 3.5 Clutha Gold Genevieve 3.5 3.0 2.5 4 week day 3 4 week day 6 3.0 2.5 2.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.0-1 0 1-1 0 1 0.0 Storage temperature ( C)
Flesh firmness (kgf) All MA bags resulted in firmer fruit (assessed on Genevieve apricots after 4 weeks storage at 0 o C and 4 days shelf life at 20 o C) 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 Ethylene Sachet No Sachet 0.0 B C K P Control MA bags
Incidence of disordered fruit (%) Some MA bags and ethylene sachet reduced disorders (assessed on Genevieve apricots after 4 weeks storage at 0 o C and 4 days shelf life at 20 o C) 60 50 40 30 20 10 Ethylene Sachet No Sachet 0 B C K P Control MA bags
Key points: coolstore Keeping fruit at 0 C will improve fruit quality There is potential for the right MA packaging to increase storage life
Checklists for improved apricot quality Winter pruning: improve light into lower canopy Thinning: Thin to medium crop load; treat each tree individually Harvesting: Aim for fruit between 3.5 and 5.5kgf Coolstoring: hold coolstores as close to 0 C as possible
Remember to listen to the consumers www.plantandfood.com