HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 3 



soft scald and internal breakdown. The reason for the failures is that 

 the apple is a living organism with a more . or less definite potential 

 span of life. If it lives too fast, either before or after picking, its vitality 

 is exhausted prematurely, and the time it remains in good eating condi- 

 tion is shortened proportionately. 



While attached to the tree the apple is part of the tree and is in- 

 fluenced by any factors that affect the growth of the tree. When the 

 tree suffers from drought, for example, the apple responds by slowing 

 down its rate of growth; when the tree is so stimulated that it makes 

 abnormally fast growth, the fruit grows vigorously and may become 

 overgrown and punky. As the fruit grows it accumulates the constit- 

 uents which finally characterize a mature apple. Not all of the constituents 

 are accumulated at the same rate; only at maturity is the final balance 

 reached. As the apple grows the fleshy part becomes essentially a reser- 

 voir for the materials upon which its potential storage life depends. 

 These are chiefly carbohydrates, malic acid, water, small amounts of 

 aromatic materials highly important in giving flavor, and vitamins and 

 minerals important for dietetic value. As the apple approaches maturity 

 it continues to increase in size but loses acidity and increases in sweet- 

 ness, with the conversion of starch into sugar. Ripening may occur 

 either before or after harvest and is accompanied by a softening of the 

 flesh and an increase in juiciness and aroma. 



A relatively small proportion of the sugar in the apple is used in res- 

 piration, being broken -down to carbon dioxide and water, which are 

 given off to the atmosphere. The acidity is, however, reduced to a much 

 greater extent during ripening than is the sugar; and, in addition, the 

 aromatic materials are gradually lost by volatilization. The taste be- 

 comes progressively more insipid and less desirable as the apple is held 

 beyond its normal storage season. Everyone knows that if an apple is 

 left on the tree or held in storage too long it becomes mealy, flavorless, 

 and soft. When the life processes of the fruit are carried so far that 

 pectic materials finally dissolve out of the cell walls, permitting the cells 

 to separate easily, the mealiness that characterizes overripe apples 

 is produced. What remains at the end is an apple in the last stages of 

 senility, entirely unsuitable for market and undesirable for either culi- 

 nary or dessert use. Therefore, although the fruit must become mature 

 before harvest to develop best quality, the ripening for the most part 

 should come after harvest to insure long storage and good market 

 quality. 



Criteria of Maturity 



Criteria of maturity for apples have included ease of separation of 

 the fruit from the spur, fruit color and appearance, period from full 

 bloom, firmness of the fruit, and certain tissue characteristics (9). 2 

 None of these is entirely dependable under all conditions. 



EASE OF SEPARATION FROM THE SPUR 



When an apple is ready to pick, it can be separated from the spur 

 without breaking the stem merely by lifting it in the hand with or with- 

 out a slight rotating movement. As the attachment of the fruit to the 



2 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 42. 



