FRUIT FOR EXPORT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21100, 6 February 1932, Page 17

FRUIT FOR EXPORT.

PEARS AND APPLES. QUESTION OF WASTAGE. INVESTIGATIONS IN ENGLAND. No. I. The Empire Marketing Board's investigations into the wastage which occurs in export apples and pears as a result of disease and damage show the NewZealand products in a favourable light, the extent of the loss in this respect rarely reaching 2 per cent. Steps which would lead to a still greater limitation of the wastage are mentioned by the board in a comprehensive review, just published, of its investigations into deterioration in transit of Australian arid New Zealand fruits. When the inherent difficulties of transporting fruit through the tropics are considered, says the report, the condition in which most cargoes are landed is England is surprisingly good. At times, however, considerable wastage has developed, both during shipment and in the later stages of distribution and marketing. In order to secure instructive data on this occurrence the board instituted, in 1927, inspections of fruit as it arrived at the various English ports, these activities being continued m 1928 and 1929 ana, to a lesser extent, in ISSO. As the survey progressed it became increasingly apparent that the wastage which had" developed at the time of the dock inspections by no means represented the total losses, since often considerable further deterioration occurred before th« fruit reached the consumer. Accordingly, in 1929, cards were inserted in boxes of apples at the docks, to be returned by retailers with particulars of the date of the opening of the box and the extent of the wastage at that time. The results obtained, which will be summarised in a subsequent article, are regarded as being of a tentative nature only, but the board hopes to develop this side of the inquiry on a more comprehensive basis. Two Types of Wastage. Wastage in New Zealand and Australian apples shipped to the United Kingdom is divided into two main types, that due to rotting by fungi and that resulting from various physiological diseases, that is, diseases not connect ea with fungi, but caused by abnormal changes in the metabolism of the apple itself. The investigations sjbowed that apples infested by insect pests were fairly effectively graded out before shipment, in spite of the fact that serious losses often occur in the orchard from such pests. It was abundantly evident from the observations that rotting by fungi was one of the most important causes of wastage, its main development occurring, however, during the later stages of marketing in Britain as the fruit ripened after removal from the refrigerator. The average extent of rotting observed in apples discharged from the hold was low in all varieties, few showing more than 2 per cent, of rotting and the average, in most cases, being less than 1 per cent. On the whole, wastage was rather less in New Zealand than in Tas- j manian apples, the percentage in respect of varieties from this country being given as follows: —Cleopatra. .2 per cent.; Cox's Orange Pippin, 2.3 per cent.; Delicious, .2 per cent.; Dunn's Seedling, -2 per cent.; Jonathan, .5 per cent.; London. Pippin, 1 per cent.; Rome Beauty, .5 per cent.; Statesman, .1 per cent.; Stunner Pippin, .6 per cent. Cause of Eotting. It- was found that the greater part, of the wastage at the time of loading was caused by the common fungi Pemcillium expansum and, to a lesser extent, Botrytis cinerea. These fungi accounted for fully 80 per cent, of the rotting observed at the dock examinations. As a rule, one or two rotted apples were found in a box and extensive rotting was rare, except in particularly ripe samples or secondary to internal breakdown. In the boxes containing only one or two decayed apples the rots were usually found at. the sides or comers, and appeared to have originated from case injuries. Bruises, stem punctures and similar wounds were the most- general points of entry for fungi and a smaller number of rots originating at the stem end, the calyx, lent.icels and scab injuries were also observed. Core rots were frequently noted in the Cleopatra and Delicious varieties. It was evident to the investigators from the high proportion of infection originate ing from mechanical injuries, • both in hard and soft varieties, that rotting could be appreciably reduced if greater precautions were taken to handie the fruit carefully during harvesting, packing and transport. Considerable attention is already paid to this matter, but a large amount of bruising is still caused by rough handling. Care in Packing. The need for more careful packing to ensure that the fruit receives the maximum protection is also stressed. Case bruising and subsequent rotting was often caused, the report says, by too high a pack, slack boxes, probably due sometimes to shrinkage of the fruit after packing. were also frequently observed, this defect, however, being more pronounced in the case of Australian fruit, further, many examples were noted in which insufficient packing material had been included to afford adequate protection to the fruit. In this respect the report suggests the need for investigation to ascertain the methods of packing, types of box and packing materials which are most effective in preventing bruising. In some varieties of New Zealand apples serious wastage occurs from fungi which do not invade the fruit at mechanical injuries, but at the stem end, calyx and lenticels. An analysis was made of the species of fungi causing wastage in samples of Cox's Orange Pippin, Jonathan and Sturmcr Pippin apples, and in each variety a high proportion of the rotting was found to be due to one fungus. The conclusion is presented, therefore, that since over 75 per cent, of this wastage is the result of infection at the stalk or calyx, and does not, so far as can be observed, follow wounding, care in handling will do little to control it. On the other hand, since it is caused by a single fungus in each case, control might be secured by cleanliness in the orchard and spraying. Influence of Ripeness. Throughout: the survey fungal rotting was found to be closely associated with ripeness and, with rare exceptions, extensive rotting at, the dock was noted in fruit which was fully mature- when unloaded The more extensive wastage, which developed during the later stages of marketing, was also more serious in fruit, which was in a "forward" condition on arrival. The investigators do not consider, however, that these considerations indicate the genpral desirability of earijer picking. They noted many instances of yellow and softening apples in which lack of flavour or slight shrivelling showed that they had been picked when somewhat immature and allowed to ripen before or during shipment. They attribute over-ripeness on unloading to two causes, unsuitable carrying temperatures and the shipment of fruit which is too ripe when loaded.