2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) grapes are large, seeded, and harvested singly or in clusters. These grapes tend to have a shelf life of one to 3 weeks, depending on berry firmness and stem end leakage. In North Carolina, new markets outside the US are desired but muscadine shelf life will need to be 4 to 8 weeks. Muscadines were harvested from a commercial grower using good fungicide management at three dates to follow cultivar and season effects on relative shelf life at 4 °C and 95% RH. Muscadines were hand-picked into clamshells and cooled within one hour of harvest. Early to mid-season ‘Late Fry’, ‘Lane’, ‘Hall’, ‘Nesbitt’, ‘Granny Val’ and ‘Supreme’ had a marketable rating of 60-80% after 4 weeks while ‘Summit’ and ‘Tara’ had ratings of 53 and 26%. Marketable ratings of late season ‘Nesbitt’, ‘Supreme’ were under 20% after only 2 weeks storage. Holding muscadine grapes at room temperature and high humidity decreased ratings. Results indicate that muscadine cultivar shelf life can be increased to 4 weeks for several cultivars if black rot and ripe rot are well controlled in the field, fruit are hand-picked directly into final container, cooled promptly, and held below 5 °C under high humidity.