Postharvest Notes on ‘Honeycrisp’ from South of the Border

'Honeycrisp' has outstanding flavor and texture characteristics, but it also has problems with high incidences of bitterpit, soft scald, and soggy breakdown. A recent paper by Watkins et al. (2004) reports on research from New York, Massachussetts, and Michigan states. The following conclusions are made -

1. Soft scald and soggy breakdown incidence were consistently the highest in storage temperatures of 0 and 0.5°C, and reduced or eliminated by temperatures of 2.2, 2.8, or 3°C.
2. DPA treatment sometimes reduced, but did not eliminate soft scald.
3. Soft scald and soggy breakdown were both reduced by holding fruit at 10 or 20°C for 1 week or 1 to 4 days, respectively.
4. Bitter pit incidence was sometimes increased by storage delays and storage at the higher temperatures.
5. Little effect of any treatment on fruit firmness, soluble solids content, internal ethylene concentration, background color, and titratable acidity was detected.

It is also interesting to note that these disorders are relatively less common in Massachussetts and Michigan, compared to New York. Both soft scald and soggy breakdown are often observed in New York in late harvested 'Honeycrisp', within the harvest period used by industry. Local observations have indicated that the behavior of 'Honeycrisp' in Ontario is most similar to that in New York. Therefore, there needs to be a compromise in postharvest treatments that reduce soft scald and soggy breakdown but increase bitter pit.