Harvesting Time Influences Bruising Susceptibility, Quality and Storagability of Swilling Peach Fruits

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Dep.Plant. Prod.(Pomology), Institute of Efficient Productivity, Zag. Unv.

Abstract

The present study was carried out during 2006 and 2007 seasons on Swilling peach fruits. Five harvests were performed at two days intervals during the commercial harvesting season. During each harvest, bruised fruits percentage, the number and the diameter of the bruised areas were determined. Sound selected fruits of each harvest were stored at 0°C. There was a significant increase in the bruised fruits percentages during the harvesting two seasons correlated with  the increase in the number of  bruised area per each fruit. This number increased at the third harvest then declined which may be due to the attachment of the bruised areas where the diameter of those bruised area increase significantly with the progress of the harvesting season. The 50 cm height was the most effective one on the sound fruit susceptibility to bruising. It caused clear bruised areas and watery symptoms appeared on the peel and flesh with faster changes to brown color at RT. In both seasons, the first and second harvests of peach fruits had the significantly highest weight loss during the storage period. Flesh firmness decreased significantly at the last harvests. Fruits of all the harvests lost its flesh firmness with the advancing of the storage period. At harvest time and during cold storage, the fruits of the earlier harvests had the significant lowest SSC values. The later harvest time the lowest acidity and total phenols and the highest water soluble pectin percentages. Peach fruits must be picked, packed and transported gently to avoid bruising and marketed, then consumed within three weeks to avoid mealiness or firmness loss.

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