New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Major factors causing variation in bruise susceptibility of apples (Malus
domestica) grown in New Zealand
A. F. Bollen
Lincoln Ventures Ltd
Hamilton, New Zealand
email: bollen@lvlham.lincoln.ac.nz
Abstract Loss of commercially valuable apples (Malus
domestica) as a result of mechanical damage continues to be an issue
for postharvest operators. Four important varieties (‘Royal Gala’, ‘Braeburn’,
‘Granny Smith’, and ‘Splendour’) have been investigated to establish the
main influences on susceptibility to bruising. A new measure of susceptibility
is introduced which describes the damage susceptibility of a population of
apples-important from a commercial perspective. Seasonal variation is the
main effect on susceptibility. Within a season, late harvest fruit are more
susceptible to damage. The only other significant effect was time after harvest
for ‘Braeburn’, with fruit on day of picking being more prone to bruising.
Fruit temperature during handling (for ‘Braeburn’) and short-term storage
(for ‘Granny Smith’) do not significantly affect commercially relevant susceptibility
to bruising. Populations of ‘Royal Gala’ showed a wide variation in susceptibility
to bruising compared with the other three varieties, which were more consistent
in their response to impacts.
Keywords apple; bruising; damage
H04072; Online publication date 5 July 2005 Received 26 August 2004; accepted
22 March 2005
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2005, Vol. 33:
201-210
0014-0671/05/3303-0201 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005
PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (101K) |
screen-quality (98K)
This year's abstracts |
Journal home page |
All abstracts |
Publishing home page
