Mcintosh had more red color than Gala (Figure 1). 

 Both cultivars continued to develop red color on succes- 

 sive harvest dates. Although Gala appeared to reach 

 the maximum red color of 80% in early October, Mcin- 

 tosh continued to develop red color to the last harvest 

 on October 19, when nearly 100% of the fruit surface 

 was judged to be red. The U. S. Extra Fancy grade was 

 denned for both cultivars as requiring 50% or more red 

 color, typical for the cultivar (although an official color 

 requirement has not yet been established for Gala). 

 Mcintosh developed typical red color earlier and 

 reached nearly 100% U. S. Extra Fancy before Gala. 

 However, by September 28, fruit from both cultivars 

 were nearly 100% U. S. Extra Fancy. 



Gala fruit were firmer than Mcintosh on all har- 

 vest dates. Both cultivars had similar soluble solids 

 (sugar) levels when sampling was started, but Gala 

 accumulated sugars faster and ultimately had a signifi- 

 cantly higher sugar content. Titratable acidity of Mcin- 

 tosh was nearly twice as high as that of Gala on all 

 harvest dates. Acid content of fruit declined slightly 

 but not significantly for both cultivars over the 8-week 

 sampling period. Fruit internal ethylene concentra- 

 tions remained very low in all fruit on all harvest dates 

 through September 14, when increasing numbers of 

 Mcintosh fruit began producing large amounts of eth- 

 ylene. After September 14, Gala fruit produced ethyl- 

 ene but considerably less of it than did Mcintosh. The 

 pattern and rate of ethylene production in Mcintosh is 

 typical of many apple cultivars. The 

 rise in ethylene locates the exact time 

 of ripening and indicates a period 

 when harvest is appropriate. Since 

 Gala did not display this typical signal 

 of ripening it is not possible to com- 

 pare the time of ripening of Gala and 

 Mcintosh. However, based upon the 

 other quality parameters measured, it 

 appears that the time of ripening of 

 these cultivars is quite similar. 



Storage and Taste Panel 

 Evaluation 



of 10 apples each were placed in air storage at 32°F. 

 Fruit in the fourth bag, whether lined on not lined with 

 plastic, were evaluated at harvest for flesh firmness, 

 red color, soluble solids, and titratable acidity. A group 

 of apples from each harvest date that was stored in a 

 paper bag or in a plastic-lined paper bag was removed 

 from storage on October 25, November 22, and Decem- 

 ber 14 and flesh firmness, soluble solids, and titratable 

 acidity were determined. Fruit were peeled, sliced, and 

 subjected to a taste panel evaluation of between 24 and 

 32 individuals. Each taste panelist was asked on each 

 date to evaluate crispness, sweetness, acidity, and 

 overall rank of fruit from each of the 3 harvest dates 

 using a descriptive scoring test. 



Gala fruit were firmer, had higher soluble solids, 

 and had lower titratable acidity than Mcintosh when 

 all harvest dates and all storage periods were consid- 

 ered (Table 1). With progressive harvest dates, soluble 

 solids increased, flesh firmness decreased, and ti- 

 tratable acidity remained unchanged for both culti- 

 vars. Flesh firmness dropped rapidly after harvest, but 

 the rate of loss slowed considerably in storage. 



Gala was preferred to Mcintosh in taste tests when 

 all harvest dates and storage periods were considered. 

 Taste panelists rated Gala crisper, sweeter, and less 

 acid. The later the harvest date, the more the fruit were 

 preferred by taste panelists. The longer fruit were kept 

 in storage, the less taste panelists liked them. 



Eighty fruit per tree were har- 

 vested from all quadrants of 3 Gala 

 and 3 Mcintosh trees on September 

 15, 22, and 29. On each datefruitwere 

 separated into 8 uniform groups of 10 

 apples each. Four of the groups were 

 placed in paper bags, and 4 were 

 placed in similar paper bags that were 

 lined with plastic. Three paper bags of 

 10 apples each and 3 plastic-lined bags 



Fruit Notes, Spring, 1990 



