Determination of the best harvesting time for Braeburn, Gala and Fuji apple cultivars in Iran
Sima Damyar, Raana Dastjerdi and Darab Hassani
Abstracts Book, 6th International Postharvest symposium, 8-12 April 2009, Antalya, Turkey. 256 pages.
2009
บทคัดย่อ
The objective of this study was to determine the best harvesting time and study the fruit quality in three new apple cultivars Braeburn, Gala and Fuji. The study was done in Damavand, one of the major apple production area of Iran, during three years from 2004 to 2006. The fruits were harvested from 10 trees in each cultivar in three consecutive weeks each year. The fruits after harvest were transferred in a cold storage (0±1°C and 80-90% relative humidity) and stored for five months. The fruit characters were evaluated after harvest and during the 5 months storage period determining: fruit weight, total soluble solids, titrable acidity, pH, firmness, and the percent of weight loss in each varieties and each harvest time. The results showed that the best harvesting time for cv. Fuji was 160-170 days after full bloom with starch index varying from 2.5-3 and firmness around 3.96. In Braebum cuitivar, the best harvesting time was 170 days after full bloom. In this cultivar the starch index was 2-2.5 and firmness was 4 in the best harvesting time. In Gala cultivar, the best harvesting time showed to be 110 days after full bloom with starch index of 2-2.5 and fruit firmness equal to 3.7.