Bruises/Fruit 



Harvest Transport 



Bruises Incurred During: 



Figure 1. Average number of bruises incurred during harvest and 

 transport of Mcintosh apples in 6 Michigan orchards. See Table 2 for 

 descriptions of transport methods among the 6 orchards. 



fruit were undamaged. Most of the increase in damage 

 during transport was from bruising, with very little 

 cutting or puncturing occurring after the harvest op- 

 eration. Most of the bruises incurred during transit 

 were the small, class A type. A high percentage of these 

 bruises appeared to be due to repeated vibrations from 

 trucks or trailers with "stiff' suspensions. 



The relationships of orchard operation to bruising 

 can be seen in Table 2 and Figure 1. Orchard 4 had by 

 far the most bruising during harvest, an indication of 

 poor instruction and/or supervision of pickers. Or- 

 chard 6 produced the most bruising during transport. 

 Here, a trailer with "stiff" suspension was used to 

 transport bins from the orchard to the packing house, 

 a distance of about 1.5 miles over some gravel and some 

 paved roads. 



The strikingfeature in Figure 1 is the relatively low 

 amount of bruising during transport in Orchards 2, 3, 

 and 5, all of which used bin-loading trailers to move 

 bins out of the orchard to the roadside. 



Care in bin handling by fork-lift operators can 

 greatly reduce the amount of damage incurred when 

 settingbins on trailers and floors. In several operations 

 fork lifts had short tines which did not extend under 

 the entire bin bottom. This caused the bottom boards 

 to spring upward during transport, which can bruise 

 apples in the bottoms of the bins. 



The authors conclude by recommending (a) gentle 

 harvest and placement of apples in bins; (b) careful 

 lifting, movement, and setting of bins during transport; 

 (c) a minimal number of handling steps, and (d) use of 

 appropriate equipment. They recommend use of long 

 tines on fork lifts, soft tires, and soft suspensions on 

 transport vehicles. Bin-loading trailers were of consid- 

 erable benefit in avoiding bruising. 



Figure 1 clearly shows that much bruising during 

 harvest and transport is avoidable. The information 

 provided in this study should help growers to carefully 

 evaluate their operations to identify problems, and 

 help to correct them. This can substantially improve 

 fruit quality and pack-out. 



•i» •{« •$* •!* »S» 



W^ 92* 9{* «^ ^% 



Fruit Notes, Spring, 1989 



