March 2019 - 20

Genomics reveals secrets of optimal harvest, storage
By Christine Corbett Conklin
FGN Correspondent
The study of genomics is yielding useful
information for preventing conditions such
as soft scald and bitter pit in fruit.
Genomics, " the study of genes, their
sequence, structure, function, evolution
and their expression, " helps to reveal a
useful blueprint, like an instruction manual
for fruit, explained Nigel Gapper, global
genomics leader for AgroFresh, who works
in Wenatchee, Washington.
Speaking at the recent Washington State
Tree Fruit Association's annual meeting
and Northwest Horticultural Expo in
Yakima, Washington, Gapper highlighted
how " plants need to respond rapidly
to their ever-changing environment. "
By understanding how " different genes
switch on and off in response to different
environmental impacts, " growers can help
to optimize everything from harvest time
to storage procedures, he suggested.
AgroFresh, based in Philadelphia,
specializes in " higher-quality yields and
better harvest management. " Thus far, they
have focused on apple crops, but hope to
expand to additional types of produce.
Through intricate studies of an apple's
tens of thousands of genes, including
more than 300 genes which regulate
ethylene in the fruit, researchers can
narrow down specifics on harvest and
storage recommendations. They look at
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everything from starch metabolism to
cell wall metabolism and " stress response
pathways, " Gapper said. More than 20,000
genes can change during a single day.
To study the genes, the fruit is peeled,
the peel is juiced and then a spot applied to
a sampling card.
Researchers also track everything from
the time of day fruit is harvested, to how
long the fruit is in transit and how it is
treated at receiving. In 2017, for example,
blocks of Honeycrisp apples were
monitored, at hundreds of sites in the
Pacific Northwest and on the East coast.
Pilot results, which included sampling
fruit as often as every two hours, showed
that the risk of soft scald increased as the
days progressed from early harvest to
late harvest.
Now, by studying gene expression,
Apples in cold storage. Photo: Cornell University
researchers have been able to predict with
96 percent accuracy which fruit is at low
risk for soft scald. These predictions also
may help to determine whether apples
should go through a " conditioning "
process, spending 10 days at a 50-degree
temperature after harvest and before being
placed in controlled atmosphere storage.
Fruit at low risk may be kept in storage
longer, while higher-risk fruit might
be sold before soft scald could develop,
Gapper said.
Bitter pit testing is still in an early stage,
with more detailed research expected to
launch later this year.
" We (are working to) predict storage
problems before they happen, " Gapper
said. While strides were made in soft scald
research for Honeycrisp in 2018, 2019
research is expected to focus on prevention
of bitter pit for Honeycrisp, internal
browning for Gala and superficial scald for
several apple varieties.
" It really is the tip of the iceberg and
apples are really just the tip of the iceberg, "
Gapper said in a later conversation with
Fruit Growers News. Genomics has
the potential to affect storage disorders,
pathogens and food safety for the entire
industry, he said. FGN
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March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2019
