New research reveals how to reduce bitter pit in Honeycrisp
While there’s still no consensus on the best post-harvest strategies to protect quality and prevent disorders for the finicky fruit, new research suggests a combination of common strategies could lower the risk of bitter pit.
New research suggests that adding controlled atmosphere (CA) or Smartfresh treatment to Honeycrisp during that temperature conditioning period — rather than waiting a week or more for the fruit to be cooled — seems to reduce the development of bitter pit.
“By turning on the CA when the fruit is relatively warm, we are seeing positive — most of the time but not all of the time — bitter pit control and no negative consequences related to low oxygen or high carbon dioxide injuries,” said Jim Mattheis, plant physiologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Wenatchee, Washington, and lead author of a forthcoming study in HortScience.
In data collected over three years in several orchard lots, Mattheis found that apples treated with both 1-methylcyclopropene upon arrival at the warehouse and placed in CA the next day, while still warm, developed the lowest amount of bitter pit. The highest level of the disorder was found in the control apples, which were stored in regular air after temperature conditioning.
source: goodfruit.com
