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Improving Sweet Cherry Fruit Quality Harvesting, Packing Procedures, Cold Chain Management and Packaging to Optimise Fruit Quality and Extend Shelf Life

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Improving Sweet Cherry Fruit Quality Harvesting, Packing Procedures, Cold Chain Management and Packaging to Optimise Fruit Quality and Extend Shelf Life Improving Sweet Cherry Fruit Quality Harvesting, packing procedures, cold chain management and packaging to optimise fruit quality and extend shelf life A report for By Jake Newnham 2019 Nuffield Scholar May 2020 Nuffield Australia Project No 1908 Supported by: © 2021 Nuffield Australia. All rights reserved. This publication has been prepared in good faith on the basis of information available at the date of publication without any independent verification. Nuffield Australia does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, reliability, completeness of currency of the information in this publication nor its usefulness in achieving any purpose. Readers are responsible for assessing the relevance and accuracy of the content of this publication. Nuffield Australia will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising by reason of any person using or relying on the information in this publication. Products may be identified by proprietary or trade names to help readers identify particular types of products but this is not, and is not intended to be, an endorsement or recommendation of any product or manufacturer referred to. Other products may perform as well or better than those specifically referred to. This publication is copyright. However, Nuffield Australia encourages wide dissemination of its research, providing the organisation is clearly acknowledged. For any enquiries concerning reproduction or acknowledgement contact the Publications Manager on ph: 0402 453 299. Scholar Contact Details Jake Newnham Lowdina Orchard 1321 Colebrook Road Campania TAS Phone: 0437710927 Email: [email protected] In submitting this report, the Scholar has agreed to Nuffield Australia publishing this material in its edited form. NUFFIELD AUSTRALIA Contact Details Nuffield Australia Telephone: 0402 453 299 Email: [email protected] Address: PO Box 495, Kyogle NSW 2474 2 Executive Summary For all cherry producers in Australia, quality of fruit is the largest driver of returns. For Tasmanian growers, this is especially true due to greater emphasis on export markets. Many global competitors have increased production and greatly improved fruit quality and as such, achieving these premium returns demands that the greatest quality be presented to the consumer. Tasmanian growers produce cherries that are highly sought after globally and enjoy an almost unmatched reputation, however current packing practices and cold chain management are still far from perfect. Many packing lines around the world use increased automation to reduce the cost of labour during processing. The size of most Tasmanian operations ensures that implementing automated packing lines of this scale is impossible. Rather than focusing solely on reducing labour costs, producers would be most benefited by making efforts to improve the overall quality of their fruit to increase returns. Several improvements can be made to current fruit handling systems to improve fruit quality and increase shelf life. Many of these require financial investment or costly modifications to packing lines but much improvement can be made by placing a greater emphasis on quicker cold chain initiation. Current packaging used by the Tasmanian cherry industry is incompatible with most post- packing cooling processes used globally. To achieve similar results, boxes will need to be redesigned to include vents, allowing for these processes to take place. The future of the Tasmanian and greater Australian cherry industry looks promising although significant challenges will be ever present, and producers will need to maintain vigilance and continuously work towards achieving a high-quality product. 3 Table of Contents Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents.............................................................................................................. 4 List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... 5 Table of Figures ................................................................................................................ 5 Foreword .......................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 8 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. 10 Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 12 Significance of export markets ............................................................................................. 12 Rapidly increasing market competition ................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2: Field Handling ................................................................................................ 15 Harvest .................................................................................................................................. 15 Transport to packing shed .................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 3: Initiating the Cold Chain ................................................................................. 20 Hydrocooling ......................................................................................................................... 20 Packing .................................................................................................................................. 21 Fungicide application ............................................................................................................ 25 Chapter 4: Cooling and Packaging ................................................................................... 27 Post packing cooling ............................................................................................................. 27 Box design ............................................................................................................................. 30 Modified Atmosphere (MA) packaging ................................................................................ 31 Chapter 5: Marketing ...................................................................................................... 33 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 36 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 37 References ...................................................................................................................... 38 Plain English Compendium Summary .............................................................................. 40 4 List of Tables Table 1: Cherry exports by state of origin (tonnes). Source data: Horticulture Innovation Australia, 2015; Horticulture Innovation Australia, 2018 ....................................................... 12 Table 2: Tasmanian cherry exports by market (Prowse, 2019) ............................................... 13 Table of Figures Figure 1: Author in The Dalles, Oregon ...................................................................................... 6 Figure 2: China imports of cherries 2014-19 (Prowse, 2019) .................................................. 14 Figure 3: The ‘Ultimate Cherry’ (Cherry Growers Australia, 2011) .......................................... 15 Figure 4: Plastic bins filled with totes awaiting processing. Curico, Chile (Author, 2018) ....... 17 Figure 5: Picker tips directly into MacroBin 12-FV. Oregon, USA (Author, 2019) ................... 17 Figure 6: Cherry respiration rates across 4 cultivars at 0, 5, 10 and 20°C (Crisosto, et al., 1993) .................................................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 7: Mobile hydrocooler at loading bay, Washington State, USA (Author, 2019) ........... 20 Figure 8: Pitting damage to cherries (Cherry Growers Australia, 2011) .................................. 21 Figure 9: Relationship between cluster cutter belt speed and pitting damage across multiple packing lines (Thompson, et al., 1997)..................................................................................... 22 Figure 10: Effects of fruit pulp temperature on bruising susceptibility (Crisosto, et al., 1993) .................................................................................................................................................. 23 Figure 11: Unitec Cherry Vision 2.0 optical grader, Orchard View, Oregon, USA (Author, 2019) .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Figure 12: Cherries dipped in fludioxonil before boxing, Curico, Chile (Author, 2018) ........... 25 Figure 13: Tunnel-style forced air cooling of stone fruit, HMC, California, USA (Author, 2019) .................................................................................................................................................
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