Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2014)

Articles

APPLE SKIN COLOUR CHANGES DURING HARVEST AS AN INDICATOR OF MATURITY

Submitted: November 26, 2020
Published: 2014-06-30

Abstract

The CIELab colour system is used to evaluate food colours. Its advantage is that the base skin colour of bicoloured apples can be measured on the same fruit before
and on the optimum harvest date. Additionally, it makes it possible to take many measurements within a short time. The changes of skin colour (yellowing) are caused by chlorophyll degradation. During fruit development and maturation chlorophyll breakdown is observed, which results in decreasing intensity of green coloration. The aim of the fiveyear study was to evaluate a fast and non-destructive method of determining the optimum harvest date of apples intended for long storage based on changes observed in the base skin colour. Apples of ‘Ligol’ and ‘Jonagored’ cultivars were collected every 4–5 days starting some weeks before the estimated OHD. On the last four or five sampling dates in all years of the study, apples were collected for cold storage. The storability of apples was
evaluated after the same number of days of storage respectively to their harvest date. Storage efficiency was evaluated based on judgment that involved sensoric tests and checking of the incidence of diseases and disorders in apples, as well as on measurement of fruit mass loss and internal qualities (firmness, TSS, TA). From among the evaluated colour indicators L*, a*, b*, Hueab angle and chroma, changes in the base colour were best illustrated by the a* coordinate value and the Hueab angle value. Based on the evaluation of the quality of apples after storage, it can be stated that the apples had the best quality when the a* coordinate during harvest ranged between -13.5 and -15.5 for ‘Ligol’ and between -4.9 and -5.7 for ‘Jonagored’. The Hueab angle assumed a value between 107 and
109 for ‘Ligol’ and between 98 and 99 for ‘Jonagored’ during the optimum harvest date. Therefore, the a* coordinate and the Hueab angle can be used as indicators of harvest maturity.

References

Blanpied G.D., 1960. Guides in determining maturity as an aid to picking and the relative merits of each method. Proceedings of the 1960 Annual Meeting, New York.
Blanpied G.D., 1989. Measurement of internal ethylene concentration and studies of its efficacy as a predictor of empire storage life. Acta Hort. 258, 429–436
Carreño J., Martinez A., Almela L., Fernandez-López J.A., 1995. Proposal of an index for the objective evaluation of colour of red table grapes. Food Res Int. 28, 4, 373–377.
Corey K.A., Schlimme D.V., 1988. Relationship of rind gloss and groups of colour to flesh quality of watermelon fruits during maturation. Sci. Hort. 34, 211–218.
Defila C., Clot B., 2001. Phytophenological trends in Switzerland. Int. J. Biomet. 45(4) 203–207.
Delwiche M.J., Baumgartner R.A., 1983. Ground color measurements of peach. J. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 108(6), 1012–1016.
Delwiche M.J., Baumgartner R.A., 1985. Ground color as a peach maturity index. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 110(6),53–57.
Drahorad W. 1998. Apfel – Qualität, Markt und Konsum. Obstbau Weinbau 6, 222–223.
Ferer A., Remon S., Negueruela A.I., 2005. Changes during ripening of the very late season Spanish peach cultivar Calanda Feasibility of using CIELab coordinates as maturity indices. Sci. Hort. 105, 435–446.
Gonçalves B., Silva A.P., Moutinho-Pereira J., Bacelar E., Rosa E.M., Meyer A.S., 2007. Effect of ripeness and postharvest storage on the evolution of colour and anthocyannis in cherries (Prunus avium L.). Food Chem. 103, 976–984.
Goupy P., Amiot M.J., Richard-Forget F., Duprat F., Aubert S., Nicolas J., 1995. Enzymatic browning of model solutions and apple phenolic substrates by apple polyphenoloxidase. J. Food Sci., Volume, 60 (3), 497–501.
HunterLab 1986. Insight in color. CIE L*, a*, b* color space 1986. HunterLab, Applications Note 8(7)., Available online at http://www.hunterlab.com/ appnotes/an07_96a.pdf; cited on 27 Sep 2013.
Iglesias I., Echeverría G., Soria Y., 2008. Differences in fruit colour developmant, anthocyanin content, fruit quality and consumer acceptability of eight ‘Gala’ apple strains. Sci. Hort. 119, 32–40.
Kader A.A., 1999. Fruit maturity, ripening, and quality relationships. Acta Hort. 485, 203–208.
Kang S.P., East A.R., Trujillo F.J., 2008. Colour vision system evaluation of bicolour fruit: A case study with ‘B74’ mango. Postharvest Biol. Technol., 49, 77–85.
Kays S.J., 1991. Postharvest physiology of perishable plant products. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Kingston C.M., 1992. Maturity indices for apple and pear. Hort. Rev. 13, 407–432.
Konopacka D., Płocharski W., Zwierz J., 2003. Perception of apple quality in relation to texture attributes proc. Acta Hort. 604, 2, 443–448.
Landa R.L., Fairchild M.D., 2005. Charting color from the eye of the beholder. Am. Sci. 93, 436–443.
Lin S., Walsh C.S., 2008. Studies of “tree factor” and its role in the maturation and ripening of ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ apples. Postharv. Biol. Tech. 48, 99–106.
Luchsinger L.E., Walsh C.S., 1998. Development of an objective and non-destructive harvest maturity index for peaches and nectarines. Acta Hort. 465, 679–688.
Łysiak G., 1998. Ocena metod określania dojrzałości zbiorczej jabłek. Zeszyty Nauk. AR w Krakowie 57, 2, 505–513.
Łysiak G., 2011. The determination of harvest index of ‘Šampion’ apples intended for long storage. Acta Sci. Pol., Hortorum Cultus 10(3), 273–282
Łysiak G., 2012. The sum of active temperatures as a method of determining the optimum harvest date of ‘Šampion’ and ‘Ligol’ apple cultivars. Acta Sci. Pol., Hortorum Cultus 11(6), 3–13
Łysiak G., 2013. The influence of harvest maturity and basic macroelement content in fruit on the incidence of diseases and disorders after storage of the ‘Ligol’ apple cultivar. Folia Hort. 25/1, 31–39
Łysiak G.P., Kurlus R., 2000. Rootstock effect on optimum harvest date and storability of two apple cultivars. Fruit Sci., Estonian Agricultural University, 207, 72–75.
McLellan M.R., Lind L.R., Kime R.W., 1995. Hue angle determinations and statistical analysis for multiquadrant Hunter L, a, b data. J. Food Quality 18, 235–240.
Meredith F.I., Robertson J.A., Horvat R.J., 1989. Changes in ethylene rate and ground color in peaches (cv. Redhavesn and Marqueen) and nectarines (cv. Fantasia) during maturation and ripening. J. Agric. Food Chem. 37(5), 1210–1214.
Nickerson D., 1976. History of the munsell color system, company, and foundation. Color Res. Applic. 1, 1, 7–10.
Rutkowski K., Miszczak A., Płocharski W., 1996. Optimum harvest date of Jonagold in central Poland COST 94. The postharvest treatment of fruit and vegetables. Proceedings of the meeting of the Working Group on optimum harvest date held in 1994 in Lofthus, Norway, 77–82.
Rutkowski K.P., Michalczuk B., Konopacki P., 2008. Nondestructive determination of ‘Golden Delicious’ apple quality. J. Fruit Ornam. Plant Res. 16, 39–52.
Sass P., 1993. Fruit storage. Budapest Mezőgazdasági Kiadó, 89–93.
Streif J., 1983. Der optimale ernt termin beim Apfel. I. Qualitätsentwicklung und Reife. Gartenbauwissenschaft 48, 154–159.Streif J., 1996. Optimum harvest date for different apple cultivars in the Bodensee area. COST 94. The postharvest treatment of fruit and vegetables. Proceedings of the meeting of the Working Group on optimum harvest date held in 1994 in Lofthus. Norway, 15–20.
Valero D., Serrano M., 2010. Postharvest biology and technology for preserving fruit quality. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis.
Zude-Sasse M., Herold B., Geyer M., 2000. Comparative study on maturity prediction in ‘Elstar’ and ‘Jonagold’ apples. Gartenbauwissenschaft 65(6), 260–265.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >> 

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.