Managing Sweet Cherry Quality - Importance of Production and Harvest Practices

摘要

The quality outcomes at the buyer are largely determined by how cherries are grown and harvested. An old adage is that you cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear. The same is true for cherries: There is nothing you can do to improve cherry qualityafter it is harvested: all you can do is try to preserve the quality received at the packing house until it is delivered to the market. We have found that over a number years of research working in industry operations, several truths have emerged. I willshare them in this summary.As a sweet cherry matures, the acidity and sugars increase and the susceptibility to pitting decreases. The higher the sugars and acidity, the better the flavor of the cherries. Delaying harvest to a slightly more advanced maturity will improve the eating quality of the fruit. However, there are risks to harvesting too mature, which include greater risk of stem browning. Therefore we have found that harvesting sweet cherries at a color maturity of color chip 5 (light mahogany) of the Centre Technique Inter-professionel de Fruits et Legumes in Paris, France sweet cherry chart results in the best compromise between flavor and overall quality after shipping.