Scientists at Kangwon National University (Chuncheon, Republic of Korea) have investigated the effect of harvest time on ripening quality of kiwifruit cultivars. For the study, green Hayward, gold Haegeum and red Hongyang kiwifruit cultivars were harvested at 160, 170 and 180 days after full bloom (DAFB) and treated with 100 μL kg−1 ethylene to investigate the ripening quality at 25°C. The same scientists have worked on the effect of harvest time on storability of the same kiwifruit cultivars.
"Significant interaction effects between cultivars and harvest times on firmness and firmness related parameters, biochemical parameters, physiological parameters, and overall sensory quality were observed - The scientists explain - The results of our study revealed that the ripening quality of kiwifruit cultivars could be influenced by harvest time. During ripening, similar increasing trends were observed for sucrose, glucose, fructose, and total simple sugars until 4 d ripening and maintained or slightly reduced afterwards, irrespective of cultivar and harvest time. In addition, based on firmness and firmness related parameters (respiration rate, ethylene production rate, pectins and polygalacturonase activity), eating quality was reached by gold Haegeum and red Hongyang on the 2nd day of ripening, whereas green Hayward reached eating quality on the 4th day, irrespective of harvest time. However, based on the lowest weight loss to attain eating quality during ripening, which avoids the risk of shrivelling, we suggest to harvest red Hongyang, gold Haegeum and green Hayward at 160, 170 and 170 DAFB, respectively".
The study has showed the shortest possible harvest time without compromising fruit quality that could also help growers to reduce production cost and improve further distributions to consumers.
