FRUIT MATURITY AND QUALITY OF SELECTIVELY PICKED ROYAL GALA APPLES

Royal Gala' apple trees were selectively picked to export grade criteria on either two or four occasions during the commercial harvest period. and the maturity and quality of fruit compared at harvest and after storage. When the total crop was recovered using four sequential picks, overall maturity at harvest was less advanced and less variable, and fruit were firmer, greener, and less greasy after storage than when the crop was harvested using only two selective picks. The most uniform fruit quality was obtained from the second and third picks of trees harvested four times. Internal ethylene concentrations tended to increase within commercial background colour categories with progressively later harvest date. Total fruit yield and size distribution was similar for the overall crop from both harvest regimes. These results indicate that four rather than two harvests, and segregation of packed lines according to time of harvest, may be used to optimise out-turn quality of 'Royal Gala' apples.