2018 ASHS Annual Conference

New apple cultivars like 'Gala' and 'Honeycrisp' continue to dominate the market in terms of demand and cost per pound. According to a National Retail Report conducted by the USDA, market price for 'Honeycrisp' apples were $3.11 per pound in March 2017. In March 2018, 'Honeycrisp' continued to have the highest market price of any variety surveyed at $2.39 per pound, 50% more expensive than runner-up 'Fuji'. Farmers nationwide are devoting more acreage to 'Honeycrisp' and still struggling to meet demand, making it more important than ever for farmers to know when to pick and how to store in order to maximize yield and reduce loss. 'Honeycrisp' apples are harvested early and susceptible to several physiological storage disorders such as bitter pit, further increasing the necessitated skill for the venture of growing 'Honeycrisp'. This is particularly critical in hot climates where red color development is difficult. The goal of this study was to test the relationship between harvest date, preconditioning, and both external and internal maturity markers at harvest on fruit quality and storage disorders in 'Honeycrisp' apples. 'Honeycrisp' apples were harvested from the same orchard in Adams County, Pennsylvania in August 2017. They were put into subgroups based on ground color at harvest for subgroup analysis to test the effect of preconditioning treatments of 0, 2, and 4 days. Apples were measured using common maturity indices after harvest and evaluated for physiological disorder after two months of refrigerated storage; the same measurements were taken again after five months of storage. As hypothesized, results indicated that harvest date had a larger impact on resulting fruit quality and physiological disorders than ground color at harvest or preconditioning treatments.