2 - 



and flavor are helpful guides, but experience with your own fruit 

 is probably your best measure. Use of Stop-drop chemicals can def- 

 initely influence maturity; the hormone types will advance matur- 

 ity while delaying abscission, but Alar will delay maturity as it 

 delays abscission. 



An 

 s e 1 e c t i 

 colorat 

 with re 

 mature? 

 West Vi 

 greatly 

 turi ty 

 the Del 

 a good 

 squeezi 

 been fo 

 observa 

 tensi ty 

 not the 

 1967). 



impor 



on of 



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Seve 



rgi nia 



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among 



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 ears o 

 shown 

 aps as 

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 maturi 

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i ty . 



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as been 

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 Extensio 



introd 

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a mor 



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uced w 

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 shown 

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ith the 

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 actual ly 

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Our own 

 us, the in- 

 hether or 

 bl . No. 11 , 



It is wise to use immature or overmature fruit for quick dis- 

 posal only. For storage, use only fruit of approximately optimum 

 maturity if you wish to avoid serious problems and sizeable losses 

 Storage will not overcome maturity problems, it will only accentu- 

 ate them. 



Carefulness of harvest, handling and storage : Growers hardly need 

 reminding of the dangers from rough handling — bruises, cuts and 

 stem punctures. But labor does need constant reminding. Injuries 

 to fruit can be prevented but cannot be cured. 



Growers do need reminding of the postharvest needs of the 

 fruit, however. The urgencies of getting fruit harvested can ob- 

 scure these postharvest needs, which if not met can cause serious 

 losses later. Cool the fruit as quickly as possible. ihey are 

 quickly changing, physically and chemically, at harvest. At 85°F, 

 they are changing more than 10 times as fast as at 32°F. The 

 sooner they can be brought to storage temperature, the more "life" 

 will be retained in the fruit. 



Be concerned about the temperature at which your storage is 

 kept. As we have pointed out a number of times in the past, if 

 32° is the recommended storage temperature do not store at 34-35° 

 thinking that the difference is not important. It is important, 

 especially in terms of softening. 



Be concerned about humidity in storage. During cooling, rel- 

 ative humidity of the atmosphere will increase if moisture content 

 of the air remains constant. Therefore, saturation may occur pro- 

 ducing condensation which can quickly lead to fruit decay, espe- 

 cially if the fruit are still somewhat warm. On the other hand. 



