This investigation was carried out in the fields and laboratories of Pome and
Grapevine Department, GCSAR/Syria, on some apple varieties i.e. Richared,
Mutsu and Tourly Winsap to determine the optimal harvest date and its effect on
storability. Fr
uits were harvested in (16/9, 26/9, 7/10, 17/10 and 30/10) depending
on physical and chemical maturity indicators, and stored with the study of changing
in quality indicators and weight lost monthly. The results showed that the studied
varieties differed in their storability according to harvest date, Richared fruits in
26/9 showed long storage for seven months with weight loss of 4.9%, fruit firmness
6.4 kg/cm2, and 18.7% TSS. While the storability was six months for Mutsu fruits
which harvested in 7/10 with weight loss of 4.4%, and fruit firmness 6.1 kg/cm2,
and finally, Tourly Winsap fruits which were stored for five months in 7 and 17/10
harvest dates with fruit firmness 5.1 kg/cm2. Moreover, the three varieties were able
to storage for three months when harvested in 30/10 with weight loss of 3.3%, 4.4%
and 4.5% in Tourly Winsap, Richared and Mutsu respectively, which considered
as consuming maturity for these varieties. These results indicated to the various
storage periods according to fruits harvest time, and the storability, which assists
in regulating offer and demand, and providing markets with fruits for long period,
however harvesting at optimal time reducing the total weight loss, in addition to
high quality indicators.
