Postharvest Handling and Storage Quality of a New Mandarin Hybrid in Florida

A new, early season mandarin hybrid selection (designated ‘900’) that arose from a cross between ‘Robinson‘ and ‘Fairchild’ tangerine was released in 2011 and limited quantities of fruit were evaluated for postharvest quality and shelf life over seven harvests spanning four seasons. Quality attributes such as peel color, peel puncture resistance (PPR), total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), juice content, and the development of decay and peel disorders were evaluated before, during, and after storage at 4.5 ^oC and compared to ‘Fallglo’ and “Robinson’ harvested at the same time. Compared to both ‘Fallglo’ and ‘Robinson’, fruit of ‘900’ had significantly deeper orange peel color (higher hue), lower TA, higher TSS:TA ratio, lower PPR, but similar TSS at harvest, and less decay after storage. After 6 weeks of storage, ‘900’ maintained 98% healthy fruit while ‘Fallglo’ and ‘Robinson’ maintained 76% and 65% healthy fruit, respectively. Although not significant, ‘900’also tended to develop less peel disorders (2%) compared to ‘Fallglo’ (16%) and ‘Robinson’ (15%). Peel color of ‘900‘ and ‘Fallglo’ did not significantly change with harvest year but, as expected, fruit developed significantly better peel color as each season progressed. Juice quality of ‘900’ did not significantly change relative to the same harvest dates or harvest period each year evaluated. However, juice quality of ‘Fallglo’ did significantly change as the harvest season progressed. Fruit juice quality of ‘Fallglo’ had significantly higher TSS, TSS:TA ratio and lower TA in late harvest season compared to early harvest season. Fruit juice content of ‘900’ and ‘Fallglo’ experienced a 5.1% and 7.4% increase, respectively, between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.