Maturity Testing Program

3 USING a penetrometer to test the pressures of the peach.

360 pieces of fruit were tested over a nine-week period.

Stonefruit WA has revisited a program from previous years and contracted Total Quality Assurance Services (TQAS) to complete a snapshot maturity survey that ran throughout December and January.

The survey saw 360 pieces of fruit tested over a nine-week period, providing some insightful results regarding the brix (Figure 1) (sugar concentration) and pressures (Figure 2) of yellow flesh peaches. Each week 40 yellow peaches were collected from four different retail sources: 10 pieces each from an IGA, Woolworths, Coles and an independent.

Samples taken from Woolworths, IGA and independents indicated there was a spike in pressures in the week before Christmas.

This was most likely correlated to the high demand and high-volume turnover in the week leading up to Christmas. Furthermore, a statistically significant increase in brix can be seen in the sampling from January 6, 2021, and the following two weeks. This can be attributed to the increased periods of warm weather for the January and February crops, allowing sugars to develop for longer and resulting in a sweeter piece of fruit. BRIX BRIX

16 14 16 12 14 10 12 8 10 6 8 4 6 2 4 0 2 0

Coles Woolworths IGA Independent Average Coles Woolworths IGA Independent Average

2/12/20 2/12/20 9/12/20 9/12/20 16/12/20 16/12/20 23/12/20 23/12/20 30/12/20 DATE 30/12/20 6/01/21 6/01/21 13/01/21 13/01/21 20/01/21 20/01/21 27/01/21 27/01/21

DATE FIGURE 1 AVERAGE BRIX LEVEL OF YELLOW FLESH PEACH

PRESSURE (KG/F) PRESSURE (KG/F)

12 10 12 8 10 6 8 4 6 2 4

Coles Woolworths IGA Independent Average Coles Woolworths IGA Independent Average

0 2 0 2/12/20 2/12/20 9/12/20 9/12/20 16/12/20 16/12/20 23/12/20 23/12/20 30/12/20 DATE 30/12/20 6/01/21 6/01/21 13/01/21 13/01/21 20/01/21 20/01/21 27/01/21 27/01/21

DATE FIGURE 2 AVERAGE PRESSURE RATING OF YELLOW FLESH PEACH

Final results will be published in the 2020–21 Season Report for WA Stonefruit. Please contact Shay at shay. crouch@perthnrm.com for the final result publication. Finally, thank you to Chris, Daniel and Frank at TQAS for all their help this season, especially being so flexible with the challenges the Covid pandemic brought about. ●

MORE INFORMATION

For more information contact Shay via email shay.crouch@perthnrm.com or phone (08) 9374 3306.

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