Integrated Analysis for Improving Export of Sweet Cherries and How a

Small Industry Can Compete by Focusing on Premium Quality

P.M.A. Toivonen
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre
Summerland, British Columbia, V0H 1Z0
Canada

Keywords: Prunus avium L., shelf life, storage, stem browning, firmness, temperature
management, logistics

Abstract
The British Columbia sweet cherry industry, which neighbors a huge US
industry, relies on export markets that pay premium prices. Premium export quality
relies on having both high quality large fruit and green stems. Harvesting sweet
cherries at later maturities results in superior eating quality and the focus has been
to harvest a more mature fruit. While the stem is not edible, it is important to visual
impact and is an indicator of freshness. The first research on sweet cherries for
export focused on retaining a bright green stem up to six weeks storage and details
of that work will be discussed. Development of late season cultivars was necessary to
extend the season past the US crop. ‘Sweetheart’ has become the most reliable
cultivar for containerized ocean shipment. Characteristics important to
containerized shipment of sweet cherries were identified and data on shipping
potential and respiratory heat will be presented. Logistics from harvest to packing
and the impact of deviations in logistics on sweet cherry quality at market was
evaluated to develop optimal handling specifications. It is critical to protect
harvested fruit with reflective covers to prevent stem browning and improve fruit
quality during shipping. Post-pack cooling is also mandatory to reliable quality
retention for cherries harvested at later maturities. One factor that does not appear
to have large effect on shipping quality is plastic packaging or box liner type.
Success of containerized shipping of premium quality sweet cherries is dependent on
numerous factors, all of which must be optimized.

INTRODUCTION
The growth of the sweet cherry industry in British Columbia, Canada, has
followed the same exponential pattern as has occurred in the rest of the world in the last
two decades. A consequence of this growth is that the Canadian markets have become
saturated with sweet cherry availability. Therefore the only logical opportunity for the
industry was to develop a long term export market strategy. However, the British
Columbia sweet cherry industry is many times smaller than the US cherry industry and
Washington State poses a significant competitive advantage. Two issues were considered
important for British Columbia’s industry to survive under such conditions; 1) there
needed to be lower cost shipping via refrigerated ocean container to provide late delivery
to market, helping to maintain the late season advantage over the US and 2) strategically
ensuring that the quality of the British Columbia sweet cherry was distinct from US
cherries. The development of this strategy required significant research to enable
commercial success.
The first step in developing relevant research was to work with industry to develop
the information to make science-based decisions for harvest, handling and shipping of
sweet cherries by refrigerated container. Initially, the effects of harvest maturity needed to
be well-documented. Subsequently, harvest practices and logistics of harvest were
evaluated in industry practice. The thermodynamics of sweet cherry handling during
containerized shipping was next to be evaluated. Finally, work was initiated to understand
how sweet cherry cultivar selection might influence the thermodynamics of containerized

Proc. Vth International Conference Postharvest Unlimited 71 

Eds.: G.A. Manganaris et al.
Acta Hort. 1079, ISHS 2015
shipping.
This research was performed in the context of commercial practice and with
extensive collaboration with industry partners, ensuring that the research led to relevant
understanding that could be applied directly by the commercial growers and shippers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Effects of Harvest Maturity

‘Sweetheart’ cherries were harvested from five replicate trees, each of which was
harvested at maturity stages 4, 5 and 6 on the Centre technique interprofessionel de fruits
et légumes (CTIFL, Paris) cherry color chart. The trees were eight years of age. A total of
50 sweet cherries per replicate for each of 0, 1, 3, and 6 weeks of storage at 1°C were
harvested at each maturity stage. Cherries were selectively harvested to obtain fruit of
uniform color classification and they were harvested randomly from all sides and heights
in the tree. Once harvested cherries were placed into clamshell containers (50 cherries per
container) and placed under a reflective tarp until all fruit were harvested. Once harvest
was complete all the clamshells containing cherries were transferred to a refrigerated
truck set at 1°C and transported to the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Summerland,
B.C. where cherries were placed in a 1°C air storage room overnight to cool the fruit. The
following morning, the clamshells containing cherries were placed into UltraPerf cherry
box liners (Toivonen et al., 2008) which were then tied and sealed with an elastic band.
Day 0 samples were evaluated the same morning using methods as described
previously.
Firmness was evaluated using a Firmtech instrument (Kappel et al., 2002).
Titratable acidity was measured on extracted juice of the fruit and soluble solids measured
using a handheld electronic refractometer as reported previously (Kappel et al., 2002).
The visual stem browning was defined as; 1 = 0-25% of stem showing browning, 2 =
25-50% showing browning, 3 = 50-75% showing browning and 4 = 75-100% showing
browning. The average stem browning was calculated from the ratings determined for all
50 cherries in each clamshell (Schick and Toivonen, 2002). The same quality evaluations
were also performed on each five replicates from each harvest maturity on days 7, 21 and
42 after harvest. Data were subjected to ANOVA using PROC GLM (Cary, NC) and are
presented as means with standard errors.

Effects of Sun Exposure and Low humidity at Harvest on Quality

This experiment was set up in a commercial orchard of 8-year-old ‘Lapins’ cherry
trees on July 15, 1998 beginning at 09:00 h. The average ambient air temperature within
the tree canopy during the test was 24.9±2.1°C, while the average ambient humidity was
33.2±6.5%. Three pairs of bins were selected randomly in the orchard during a
commercial harvest. Pickers filled a bin within approximately 20 min. One bin of each
pair was covered with a reflective tarp and one bin was left as an uncovered control. After
filling, the bins remained in the orchard between the tree rows for 4 h, as per practice in
that orchard. The bins were then transported on an open flatbed trailer to the packing
house in Naramata, British Columbia. The cherries were room-cooled overnight and the
following morning they were delivered by a refrigerated truck to the cherry packing
facility. Cherry samples were randomly selected from the top, middle and bottom layer of
each of the experimental bins and packaged in 1 kg styrene clamshell trays. All samples
were transported by refrigerated truck to Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre at
Summerland, British Columbia. The filled clamshell trays were sealed in bags of a
polyolefin film (PD-941, Cryovac, Duncan, SC) and stored at 1°C, 75% RH. This film
does not allow significant atmospheric modification, but does maintain a high humidity
around the fruit. The atmospheres measured in the bags averaged at 0.7% CO2 and 19.4%
O2 during storage. The quality of the cherries was evaluated the next day (i.e., week 0) on
one set of samples and subsequently at week 2 and 4 of storage on other sets of samples.

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Importance of Harvest Logistics on Quality
In order to record timing and temperature profiles of sweet cherries at four
different grower/packer co-operators, temperature logging cherries had to be constructed.
Blush cherries (numbered cultivar ‘13N-10-09’ from the Summerland Cherry Breeding
Program) of 25±1.5 mm diameter were harvested and placed into cold storage for use as
required. Blush cherries were chosen since they are readily visible in the packing line and
therefore easily retrieved once critical temperature measurement had been recorded. The
pit of the cherry was excised from the cherry using a scalpel, leaving a rectangular slot in
the fruit (~5 mm wide × 12 mm long and 15 mm deep) large enough to accommodate an
iButton® sealed canister temperature logger (Model DS1922L, Maxim Integrated, San
Jose, CA, USA). Before insertion of the iButton® into the cherry the unit was
synchronized as per company instructions and a delayed start was invoked to initiate
sampling at 06:00 h the next morning via a Blue Dot™ Contact Receptor and using the
OneWire software provided by Maxim Integrated (San Jose, CA, USA). The sampling
rate was set at 10 s to allow up to 23 h of sampling for temperature. The iButton® was
then heat-sealed using a universal bench mounted sealer (Model 252, Clamco
Corporation, Cleveland, OH, USA) in a thin pouch of laminate film (PD941, Cryovac,
Mississauga, ON, Canada) and inserted into the pitted cherry. A 5 mm wide × 12 mm
long × 3 mm deep piece excised from another cherry fit over the rectangular slot and this
was hot-glued in place to encase the iButton® within the cherry. The entire cherry was
then sealed within a shrink film pouch using the bench mounted sealer. The pouch was
heated to shrink tightly around the cherry using a heat gun (12.5 amp, Mastercraft,
Toronto, ON, Canada ). The assembled TLC was then able to withstand handling, packing
line operations and hydro-cooling while remaining intact, thus providing a good surrogate
measure of cherry core temperature. Equivalency of measurements to intact cherry core
temperatures was verified in laboratory tests.
Five TLCs were randomly placed in with harvested cherries in picking containers
during the harvest operation once per hour throughout the harvest day (i.e., a total of five
times). They were allowed to move through the packing line with the harvested fruit and
retrieved as they emerged from the end of the packing line. Retrieved TLCs were then cut
open and the iButton® removed and the time stamp and temperature data downloaded via
a Blue Dot™ Contact Receptor and using the OneWire software. The timing and core
temperature profiles for cherries at each cooperator were extracted to evaluate the harvest
to packing logistics. Samples of cherries were collected from each co-operator to evaluate
quality changes over subsequent storage at 1°C. Severity of stem browning was assessed
using previously described hedonic scales (Kappel et al., 2002; Toivonen et al., 2004).
Titratable acidity and soluble solids were measured (Kappel et al., 2002) and expressed as
percentages.

Temperature Management
‘Sweetheart’ cherries were collected from the end of the packing line from a local
packing house. The grower had selected a maturity fruit skin color with using a
comparator from the Centre technique interprofessionel de fruits et légumes (CTIFL,
Paris), the target color range being between color chip numbers 5 and 6. The cherries
were transported to the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Summerland, BC within 1 h
of packing in a refrigerated truck set at 5°C. Fruit were repacked from five 10 kg boxes
into 0.5 kg polystyrene clamshells. A total of five replicates per storage duration per
storage temperature were packed into the clamshells, each replicate was selected from a
different 10-kg box. Each of the clamshell containers was placed into an individual plastic
film bag constructed from Lifespan modified atmosphere box liner film (Amcor
Flexibles, Australia) and sealed by twisting the open side and fastening with a rubber
elastic band.
Quality was assessed on week 0 (one day after packing) and on weeks 1, 3 and 6.
Severity of stem browning was assessed using previously described hedonic scales
(Kappel et al., 2002; Toivonen et al., 2004). Firmness was measured before and after

73 
storage using a FirmTech I testing instrument (BioWorks, Stillwater, Okla.) as described
by Kappel et al. (2002).

Importance of Cultivar to Thermodynamics in Palletized Container Shipping

A sample of 100 cherries from each cultivar tested was harvested from breeding
research blocks when the fruit had reached a color stage 5-6 on a comparator from the
Centre technique interprofessionel de fruits et légumes (CTIFL, Paris). Five sets of five
fruit were selected for placement into each of three temperature-controlled incubators set
at 0.5, 3 and 5°C. Within each incubator were respiration flasks and each group of five
fruit were placed into each of five flasks. The respiration facility description is provided
by Toivonen et al. (2004). Once the respiration data were calculated, respiration was
regressed against temperature using an exponential model. Waelti (1986) describes heat
accumulation due to respiration in palletized cherries and so the principle developed by
him was used to model heat accumulation in sweet cherries, assuming that container
cooling would not remove significant heat from internal boxes in pallets. To do this, the
respiration models developed for each model were used as base data and knowing the
relationship that 1 mg CO2/kg/h × 61.2 = 1 kcal/1,000 kg/24 h, heat evolution at different
temperatures was calculated. Heat accumulation was calculated knowing that the specific
heat of sweet cherries is 0.84 kcal/kg/°C. Two scenarios were modeled; 1) sweet cherries
cooled to 0.5°C before palletizing and 2) sweet cherries cooled to 3°C before palletizing
(the normal core temperature from on line hydro-cooling). Once two models were
constructed for each cultivar, the days to reach 5°C was calculated from the models and
are presented as the limit of shipping life for each cultivar, depending on the core
temperature of the fruit at the time of palletizing.

RESULTS

Effects of Harvest Maturity

‘Sweetheart’ cherries harvested at three color stages showed significant
differences in soluble solids and titratable acidity levels (Fig. 1). The more mature the
fruit were at harvest, the higher the soluble solids and acidity levels. While soluble solids
did not change during six weeks of cold storage, the soluble solids declined significantly,
with the greatest declines occurring in the least mature fruit (color stage 4 on the CITFL
scale). Firmness of the late maturity cherries was lower at harvest (Fig. 2), however,
firmness values increased in storage and there was little difference between early and late
harvested cherries at six weeks in cold storage. The only negative response seen with later
harvested cherries was a slightly higher propensity for stem browning at six weeks in
storage (Fig. 3). These results suggest that later harvested fruit will have significantly
higher soluble solids levels and titratable acidity than earlier harvested cherries but still
have good storage potential for up to six weeks in cold storage.

Effects of Sun Exposure and Low Humidity at Harvest on Quality

The effects of sweet cherry exposure to both sun and low humidity (Table 1) are in
both damage and dehydration of the stems and also damage to the fruit. Stem dehydration
can be reversed with the hydro-cooling and is evidenced by water uptake by stems,
however, injury to the cells of the stems cannot be reversed and this is evidenced by the
lack of effect of hydro-cooling to mitigate stem browning (Table 1). Damage to the fruit
itself is suggested by the increase in decay susceptibility when reflective tarps are not
used to protect the fruit. This work underlies the importance of keeping the fruit free from
sun and low humidity exposure that occurs during the hot weather over which sweet
cherries are harvested.

Importance of Harvest Logistics on Quality

Evaluation of different packing house operations with associated growers provided
insight into the wide range in logistics from harvest to cooling (Fig. 4). Two situations

74 
revealed logistics where cherries were not packed until approximately 24 h after harvest.
In one case the fruit remained in the field for 6 h before transport (Fig. 4A) under
reflective tarps, fruit were transported to a packing house and held in a cold room
overnight, warmed and then put through the packing line and re-cooled before packing. In
the second case (Fig. 4C), the cherries were not protected using a reflective tarp and
transported immediately to the packing house within 2 h of harvest and held in a cold
room overnight, rewarmed and then re-cooled prior to packing. The logistics of two other
cases were close to ideal, with sweet cherries being protected by reflective tarps and sent
to the packing house, cooled and packed within hours of harvest (Fig. 4B,F).
In case A, the delay of 6 h in the field was associated with gradual development of
stem browning over 6 weeks in cold storage in MAP liners (Fig. 5). In case C, the lack of
reflective tarp protection was associated with a high level of stem browning even at the
beginning of storage, indicating the effect of sun exposure on stem injury. In case F, the
stems were yellow at the time of harvest and this was associated with gradual increase in
stem browning over time in storage. In case B, the fruit quality on the tree was excellent,
the fruit protected from the sun after harvest, and the fruit cooled and packed within 2 h
of harvest, resulting in essentially no stem browning even at 6 weeks in storage.
One other comparison was made in regard to internal quality between case B and
C, showing that the delay in packing resulted in significant differences in titratable acidity
retention (Table 2). This last observation suggests that the poor handling of the fruit and
delays in final cooling and packing result in degradation of flavor quality of the fruit.

Temperature Management
The packing house hydro-cooler operation only lead to minimum core temperature
for cherries of 2°C and in some cases, depending on volume of cherries being packed, the
temperature in the box was found to be as high as 6°C (Fig. 4). When evaluating the
response of sweet cherries to different cooling temperatures, it was determined that as the
core temperature of the cherry rose from 0.5°C to 5, significant differences in firmness
resulted after 3 weeks in cold storage (Fig. 6). An analysis was done to evaluate the
number of fruit per lot falling below a 350 g mm-1 threshold firmness and it was
determined that cooling temperatures in the range provided by hydro-cooling in the line
would result in significant percentages of soft fruit (Fig. 7). This result underlies the
importance of forced-air cooling of pallets after hydro-cooling and packing of cherries if
they are to be shipped by container.

Importance of Cultivar to Thermodynamics in Palletized Container Shipping

The calculations of respiratory heat accumulation resulted in differential curves
for each cultivar, two of which are shown in Figure 8 (‘Sweetheart’ and ‘Cristalina’).
Taking the interception point of the curves with a criteria of maximum 5°C (a value that
many receivers use for rejecting or downgrading loads), it becomes clear there are
significant differences in potential days of shipping for the different cultivars of cherries.
‘Sweetheart’ stands as having the slowest rise in temperature, meaning it can be shipped
longer on container than most other cultivars before reaching the threshold value of 5°C
in the center of the pallet. However, both Staccato™ and Suite Note™ also have potential
shipping days nearly as long as ‘Sweetheart’.

DISCUSSION
While there are many factors that could be investigated for the improvement of
containerized shipping in sweet cherries, it was important to study the question in the
context of current commercial practice. The important findings of our work conducted
over the past decade has been able to provide clear identification of the factors that most
limit quality retention in long distance shipped sweet cherries by ocean container. It
should be noted that the application of technologies such as packaging, while providing
important control of water loss and perhaps inhibiting decay (high carbon dioxide), that
differences in technologies have not been supported by work showing advantage of one

75 
over another (Toivonen et al., 2008).
Differentiation of quality by harvesting fruit at a more advanced maturity has been
a significant marketing strategy, especially when considering the larger industry in the
US, where a similar strategy is less practical just because of the scale of operations. Small
orchard blocks allow for harvest at a more advanced maturities harvest without risk of
harvesting over-mature fruit. However, the risk of quality issues must be addressed and
attention to harvesting logistics as well as post-packing forced-air cooling are required to
ensure that the fruit are firm at the time of delivery to the customer.
An integral part of the harvest logistics is the protection of the fruit from sun
exposure and dehydration in the low humidity conditions of July and August. While other
jurisdictions have focused on the use of water soaked foam pads and/or field hydro-
cooling systems, the use of the simple reflective tarp (Schick and Toivonen, 2002), has
been found to be the easiest and most effective strategy to protect cherries until delivery
to the packing house. However, delays in cooling and packing are not compensated by the
use of the reflective tarp nor are problems in stem quality due to crop management. This
underlies the importance of combining good crop management with good postharvest
practices to ensuring good quality at market.
Temperature management continues to be a concern, despite the knowledge
generated in past decades about the importance of cooling. The lack of understanding is
probably related to the fact that much packing line technology is available to the industry
and there is an implicit expectation that the technology is appropriate to achieve the
desired temperature targets of the packer. However, clearly from our analysis, even the
best operation has issues with reducing fruit core temperature to near 0°C before packing
the fruit. This is a reality that must be understood and consequent post-packing cooling
(forced-air) of assembled pallets must be practiced in order to assure acceptable
temperatures of container shipped sweet cherries.
Sweet cherries, like other fruit are living entities and as a consequence maintain
respiration even in the package. While low temperatures will reduce the respiration rate,
the consequence of respiration is generation of heat which leads to heat accumulation in
palletized fruit (Waelti, 1986). When fruit were shipped short distances via truck or long
distances via air, the time in pallet format was relatively short, ~7 d. However, when
considering containerized shipment of over 25-30 d, the issue of heat accumulation in
palletized cherries becomes very important. In our analysis, using data from respiration
studies at different temperatures, we have found that different cultivars have different
propensities for heat accumulation. As a consequence, we are now beginning to classify
new cultivars based on time taken to theoretically reach an unacceptable core
temperature. This is a container shipping potential characteristic and data collected
parallels the anecdotal experience from industry and the standard shippers’ rule of thumb
– “1°C for each week in shipping”.
In the future for containerized shipping of sweet cherries, the focus should be on
selecting cultivars with lower respiration rates at abusive temperatures. This will serve
two basic issues, to find cultivars that are less responsive to temperature abuse and to
ensure the least temperature accumulation during palletized, container shipment. In
addition, should there be pre- or postharvest treatments that can modulate respiration
(Martínez-Romero et al., 2006) they should be explored in the context of their impact on
the thermodynamics of palletized sweet cherries.

CONCLUSIONS
The sustainability of the British Columbia sweet cherry industry has been
primarily dictated by the need to differentiate from the large US industry. New cultivars
of late season sweet cherries having large size and superior flavor quality have been a
very important basis for this sustainability. In addition to size, flavor and firmness, new
cherry cultivars need to be evaluated for their respiration rates in response to elevated or
abusive temperatures since this will provide good information on the thermodynamics of
assembled pallets of boxes packed with sweet cherries during containerized sea transport

76 
to market. ‘Sweetheart’ is a cultivar having good respiration rate stability under abusive
temperatures and this equates to the observation that this cultivar is considered a good
container shipping cultivar.
In addition to cultivar selection, there have been several other factors found to be
important to containerized shipping of sweet cherries. The British Columbia sweet cherry
industry distinguishes itself by shipping cherries of more advanced maturity than many
other producing areas. Advanced maturity (while avoiding over maturity) provides fruit
of higher acid and sugar content and with good firmness. Essential to success in
delivering premium quality fruit with green stems, is the protection of the fruit from
exposure to sun and low ambient humidity from the time of harvest until delivery to the
packing house. British Columbia pioneered the use of reflective tarpaulin covers to
protect the cherries and their stems. It is now required practice to use these reflective
tarpaulin covers for any cherries being exported from British Columbia. The smaller size
cherry blocks in British Columbia help to ensure that the cherries are cooled and packed
within hours of harvest, ensuring the best quality retention over long term containerized
ocean shipping. Finally, cherries must be cooled after they are packed since the in-line
hydro-cooling rarely brings fruit temperature down below 2°C. Forced-air cooling of
assembled pallets of packed cherry boxes overnight provides the cooling necessary to
ensure the cherries are within acceptable temperature limits and quality specifications
even after 28 days of containerized shipment.
Attention to the many factors outlined in this discussion was essential for the
British Columbia sweet cherry industry to maintain a quality premium in the international
market place. In addition, the shipment of cherry by containers allows the industry to
maintain a last fruit in the market place advantage since our harvest season is the latest in
North America. This last fruit advantage translates into higher prices when no other
cherries are available.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Brenda Lannard and Sabina Stan for their
excellent technical support in conducting these experiments.

Literature Cited
Kappel, F., Toivonen, P., McKenzie D.-L. and Stan, S. 2002. Storage characteristics of
new sweet cherry cultivars. HortScience 37:139-143.
Martínez-Romero, D., Alburquerque, N., Valverde, J.M., Guillén, F., Castillo, S., Valero,
D. and Serrano, M. 2006. Postharvest sweet cherry quality and safety maintenance by
Aloe vera treatment: a new edible coating. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 39:93-100.
Schick, J. and Toivonen, P.M.A. 2002. Reflective tarps at harvest reduce stem browning
and improve fruit quality of cherries during subsequent storage. Postharvest Biol.
Technol. 25:117-121.
Toivonen, P. 2012. Optimizing handling for superior fresh market quality of sweet
cherries and potential value-added product. p.159-164. In: D. Martinez-Romero, D.
Valero, M. Serrano, S. Castillo, F. Guillén and P.J. Zapata (eds.), Ciruela y Cereza:
del Campo al Consumidor (Plum and Sweet Cherry: from Field to Consumer),
Proceedings of the International Plum and Sweet Cherry Symposium, 24-25 October
2012. ISBN 978-84-939989-3-6.
Toivonen, P.M.A. 2013. Importance of managing humidity and temperature from harvest
to packinghouse 8 p. Access at: http://www.poscosecha.com/es/publicaciones/
poscosecha/_cat:5.
Toivonen, P.M.A. and Hampson, C.R. 2012. Phenotypic analysis of new sweet cherry and
apple cultivars based on postharvest characteristics. Acta Hort. 945:219-225.
Toivonen, P.M.A., Kappel, F., Stan, S., McKenzie, D.-L. and Hocking, R. 2004.
Firmness, respiration and weight loss of ‘Bing’, ‘Lapins’, and ‘Sweetheart’ cherries in
relation to fruit maturity and susceptibility to surface pitting. HortScience 39:1066-
1069.

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Toivonen, P.M.A., Kappel, F., Lannard, B. and MacKenzie, D.-L. 2008. Comparison of
two commercial modified atmosphere box-liners for sweet cherries. 11p. Accessible
at: www.ultraperf.com/pdf/Cherry_Liner_Report.pdf.
Waelti, H. 1986. Forced air cooling of cherries. PostHarvest Pomology Newsletter 4:7p.
Accessible at: http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/N4I1A.

Tables

Table 1. Differences in stem and cherry fruit quality two weeks after storage at 1°C and
decayed fruit after six weeks of storage as a consequence of application of reflective
tarps over harvested cherries in the field. Ambient temperatures were 24.9±2.1°C and
relative humidity was measured as 33.2±6.5% in the orchard during the sample
collection. Core temperatures of cherries and surrounding humidity were measured
within the mass of cherries within the bin at 6 cm below the top layer of fruit.

Surrounding Stem Relative Stem Decayed

Core
relative water leakage browning cherries at
temperature
humidity content of stems (1=<25%, six weeks
(°C)
(%) (%) (%) 4=>75) (%)
Uncovered 23.2±2.1 80±4 55.0±0.7 50±12 1.75±0.29 20.7±4.0
Reflective
21.5±0.4 99±1 62.5±0.6 28±4 3.36±0.14 9.3±2.2
tarp cover
Values represent a mean ± standard error of three replicate bins filled with cherries.

Table 2. Soluble solids and titratable acidity retention of ‘Sweetheart’ cherries sampled
from grower/packer sites where delays to cooling were recorded as 1 and 24 h. This
time reflects the actual measured time from harvest to packing into the box after in-
line hydro-cooling.

Soluble solids Titratable acidity

Time to final (%) (mg malic acid per ml)
Significance Significance
cooling At After At After
harvest storage harvest storage
1 hour 22.1 22.0 ns 7.2 6.8 ns
24 hours 19.3 20.1 ns 8.3 5.8 **
** significant at the P=0.01 level.

78 
Figures

Fig. 1. Titratable acidity and soluble solids content of commercially grown ‘Sweetheart’
sweet cherries at harvest and during 6 weeks of cold storage in plastic box liners at
1°C. Fruit were harvested at three color stages (maturities) as defined by the
CTIFL cherry color chart (Paris).
 

Fig. 2. Firmness of commercially grown ‘Sweetheart’ sweet cherries at harvest and during
6 weeks of cold storage in plastic box liners at 1°C. Fruit were harvested at three
color stages (maturities) as defined by the CTIFL cherry color chart (Paris).

79 
Fig. 3. Stem browning severity in commercially grown ‘Sweetheart’ sweet cherries at
harvest and during 6 weeks of cold storage in plastic box liners at 1°C. Fruit were
harvested at three color stages (maturities) as defined by the CTIFL cherry chart
(Paris).

Fig. 4. Temperature-time profiles for ‘Sweetheart’ cherries from the time of harvest until
cooling and packing into a box at four grower/packer operations from British
Columbia in 2008.

80 
  

Fig. 5. Stem browning severity for ‘Sweetheart’ cherries from four grower/packers from
British Columbia in 2008. The stem browning assessments relate to the
grower/packer temperature-time profiles shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 6. Frequency of occurrence of different firmness categories for ‘Sweetheart’ cherries

after three weeks storage at three different temperatures.

81 
Fig. 7. Percentage of soft fruit in lots of ‘Sweetheart’ cherries stored at three different
temperatures up to three weeks.
 

Fig. 8. Models of temperature increase in ‘Sweetheart’ and ‘Cristalina’ cherries during

container shipping based on respiration rates at different temperatures measured
for these cultivars. The models assume that heat removal from the pallet is
negligible during container shipping. Two different starting temperatures are
selected to show the importance of cooling cherries to the lowest possible
temperature before shipping. See details for calculations in the Materials and
Methods section. The maximum acceptable temperature for receipt of cherries is
also assumed to be 5°C and so the day which the model intersects the 5°C is
estimated to be the end shipping life.

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