ISHS Acta Horticulturae 694: International Symposium on Harnessing the Potential of Horticulture in the Asian-Pacific Region
FLESH BROWNING IN PINK LADY™ APPLES: MATURITY AT HARVEST IS CRITICAL BUT HOW ACCURATELY CAN IT BE MEASURED? |
| Authors: | H. James, G. Brown, E. Mitcham, D. Tanner, S. Tustin, I. Wilkinson, A. Zanella, J. Jobling |
| Keywords: | Pink Lady™ apple, flesh browning, maturity, ethylene, CO2 |
| Abstract:
Pink Lady™ apples are an important new cultivar which has some unique market advantages as a result of its quality and market identity. This market advantage is at risk of being damaged as a result of the flesh browning disorder that has become a problem for both domestic and exported fruit over recent years. An international research team has come together to identify the causes of the disorder and maintain the varieties reputation. The preliminary results show that late harvested Pink Lady™ M apples are more susceptible to the disorder. Other factors are also involved in the disorder but this paper will focus on the issue of fruit maturity. The incidence of the disorder is sporadic in nature and it is therefore likely that seasonal conditions influence the incidence of the disorder. One factor that seasonal climate affects is fruit maturity at harvest and it may be that the accuracy of the commonly used starch score varies depending on the seasonal conditions. Detailed maturity studies were done on fruit from Batlow, NSW and Tasmania and these will be compared to the results from South Tyrol, Italy and California, USA in an effort to determine how starch score and fruit maturity correlate for the different districts. The starch score is a simple measure but how accurate is it and is there a way that its accuracy as a harvest indicator could be improved? | |
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