Location: Physiology and Pathology of Tree Fruits Research
2022 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. Apple peel disorders associated with increased orchard temperatures and sun exposure continue to contribute substantially to postharvest losses. In a collaborative project with Washington State University, ARS scientists in Wenatchee, Washington, have developed a fruit sorting protocol to assess sun-related postharvest disorder risk. Using this protocol, sunscald, a sun-related disorder of many important apple cultivars, including highly sensitive ‘Granny Smith’ apples, was predicted at harvest before symptoms developed with over 95% accuracy. Adaptation of this system to existing commercial apple fruit sorting lines or even integration into field sorting lines could nearly eliminate sun-related postharvest disorders and crop loss from apple cold chains.
Review Publications
Lee, J., Leisso, R.S., Rudell Jr., D.R., Watkins, C.B. 2022. 1-Methylcyclopropene differentially regulates metabolic responses in the stem-end and calyx-end flesh tissues of 'Empire' apple during long-term controlled atmosphere storage. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 192. Article 112018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2022.112018.
Hargarten, H.L., Mattheis, J.P., Honaas, L.A. 2022. Monitoring effects of rootstock genotype and soil treatment strategy on postharvest fruit quality in ‘Gala’ apple. HortScience. 57(7):789–798. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI16407-21.
Vieira, M., Argenta, C., Brancher, T.L., de Freitas, S.T., Mattheis, J.P. 2022. Relationship among dry matter content and maturity indexes at harvest and quality of 'Gala' apples after storage. Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura. 44(2). Article e-841. https://doi.org/10.1590/0100-29452022841.
Argenta, L.C., do Amarante, C.V., de Freitas, S.T., Brancher, T.L., Nesi, C.N., Mattheis, J.P. 2022. Fruit quality of ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ apples cultivated under different environmental conditions. Scientia Horticulturae. 303. Article 111195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2022.111195.
Mattheis, J.P., Felicetti, D., Rudell Jr, D.R. 2021. ‘d’Anjou’ pear metabolism during ultra-low O2, low CO2 controlled atmosphere storage reflects disorder outcome. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 185. Article 111781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2021.111781.
Hamilton, A.M., Ruiz-Llacsahuanga, B., Mendoza, M., Mattheis, J.P., Hanrahan, I., Critzer, F.J. 2021. Persistence of Listeria innocua on fresh apples during long-term controlled atmosphere cold storage with postharvest fungal decay. Journal of Food Protection. 85(1):133–141. https://doi.org/10.4315/JFP-21-232.
Hadish, J., Biggs, T., Shealy, B., Bender, M.R., McKnight, C., Wytko, C., Smith, M., Feltus, A.F., Honaas, L.A., Ficklin, S. 2022. GEMmaker: Process massive RNA-seq datasets on heterogeneous computational infrastructure. BMC Bioinformatics. 23. Article 156. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-022-04629-7.
