Modeling System and Vis-NIR Devices to Improve Pre- and Post-Harvest Management

The ripeness at harvest of stone fruit should ensure the best balance between consumer satisfaction and logistics ease of management. In fact, because of early harvesting, increased consumer dissatisfaction with peach and nectarine fruit is frequently observed. The use of the new non-destructive vis-NIR based, ripening Index of Absorbance Difference (I-AD) in planta, may help to overcome this problem. In our experiments, the I-AD gave an objective measure of the nectarine ripening stage and showed a linear trend during Stage III of fruit development. The combined field monitoring of fruit ripening (I-AD) and growth (mm) during Stage III of nectarine development allowed two to three weeks advance predictions for harvest date and yield with low errors. The model reported in the present work offers promise for future real applications under field conditions, to obtain early objective and precise predictions for harvest date and yield. Finally, the combined use of the I-AD and of the PlantToon (R), can be used as a Decision Support System in field conditions to identify the best cultural techniques for reducing fruit ripening heterogeneity. Shelf life forecasting and consumer acceptability of the different fruit ripening classes assessed with the I-AD are also reported.