High-tech techniques show promise
By Susan McIver apples. T
Peter Toivonen, research scientist at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Summerland, delivered the news at the 2012 Horticultural Forum held in Kelowna. The DA meter measures the difference in two absorbance bands in apple peel. This enables an assessment of fruit maturity based on chlorophyll content.
The technique has potential as a non-destructive way to map orchard maturity and may potentially replace the use of starch and/or internal ethylene for assessing apple maturity.
The meter also can be used to monitor chlorophyll content of apples in storage.
A second new technology, known as the Sinclair IQ, non-destructively measures apple firmness by employing a bellows system currently used to apply labels to apples in packing lines. The IQ values showed better correlation to firmness and crispness in apples than penetrometer data and informal sensory panels.
The technique holds promise for being incorporated into a packing line to allow segregation of apples according to firmness grade. A Nirvana infrared spectrometer, the third promising technology, provides reliable estimates of soluble solids content in any cultivar of apple.
It has the potential for measuring internal defects, such as internal browning, and dry matter content which is associated with storage potential in apples.
In the future, the spectrometer may be incorporated into the line to sort by soluble solids and detect apples with internal defects.
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he future may hold three new technologies for growers to manage harvest and quality of
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British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2012
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