Fruit Characteristics and Detachment Parameters of Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L. cv. ‘Kütahya’) as Affected by Various Maturity Stages

Abstract

The variability in fruit maturity and quality has difficulties in determining the optimal harvesting maturity. Therefore, maturity stage in harvest is crucial for both fruit quality and minimizing the fruit detachment force. This study investigates the fruit characteristics and detachment parameters of sour cherry (cv. ‘Kutahya’) in terms of different maturity stages. Sour cherries were grouped into five different maturity stages by observation according to their color and dimensions. The fruit mass and dimension increased as a function of maturity stage; however, the fruit mass remained almost same after the 4th stage. The highest values of total soluble solids and titrable acid contents of sour cherry were gained in the last stage of maturity. The value of chroma of fruit outer color was higher 50 % than that of fruit inner color in the 1st maturity stage. However, it was almost same in the 5th stage of maturity. Increasing fruit maturity caused a decrease in the values of fruit detachment force ranging from 4.25 to 1.78 N, giving the coefficient of determination of 0.947. Similarly, the ratio of fruit detachment force to fruit mass, detachment stress, and specific energy decreased as the fruit maturity increased. The harvest of sour cherry is done only once in the optimum time to decrease the harvest cost. Minimizing the variability in fruit maturity throughout the tree is essential for gaining the maximum profit and lower fruit detachment force in this convenient time. Results of this study indicated that 3rd−5th maturity stages were critical for harvest. In order to attain the maximum poundage per tree and color for the market the most of the fruits should be in these stages. Therefore, appropriate management strategies that could homogenize the maturity throughout the tree should be applied.