Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fresh apples and pears are, as mentioned earlier, sold in categories, classes
or grades which reflect perceived quality. The quality criteria are specific
to types (e.g. red, partially coloured or green apples) and even to individual
cultivars. In general larger fruits are preferred to smaller ones, bright red
colour is preferred in red cultivars, and downgrading results from any surface
blemish whether this is the result of pest or disease attack or a physiological or
environmental cause. This quality grading has very important consequences
in terms of tree management. Large fruits develop when fruits and leaves are
wellexposedtosunlightandfruit-to-fruitcompetitionforassimilatesisreduced
by fruitlet thinning. The anthocyanin pigment which gives fruit skin its red
colour is only formed, in most cultivars, under the direct influence of exposure
to sunlight. Downgrading can thus result from fruit development under shady
conditions. When, however, light intensities are very high, inadequate shade
can lead to sunburn, which can result in the fruit being unsuitable for the fresh
market.
Apple juice is the second most important apple product. The apples are
ground, pressed and filtered to remove skins and pulp. The juice is then pas-
teurized. It may be sold as such, in un-concentrated form, or concentrated to
give a
concentrate, i.e. a concentrate which is reconstituted to apple juice
by adding sixparts of water to one of concentra te. The ability to concentrate
apple juice has greatly reduced its transportation costs and made it possible
to ship it economically from areas of production to distant markets. In
to
Argentina processed more than
% of its apple production into juice con-
centrate and exported
). Apple juice
is the cheapest of all fruit juices: as well as being sold as such it is therefore also
widely used in fruit juice blends which are marketed under the name of the
other ingredient. In England and in Canada apples are fermented to make
an alcoholic drink called cider (most American cider is non-alcoholic juice).
In England this is produced from special cultivars giving characteristic aroma
and flavour. Conventional apple juice can also be used as the sugar source
for producing 'pop wines' as an alternative to using the more expensive grape
juice.
The second most important processed apple product is apple sauce. The
apples are peeled, cored and trimmed, chopped and cooked with sugar. The
cooked sauce is then filtered, and water and sugar automatically added to
ensure consistency of product prior to canning. Other products include dried
apple and apple chips.
Pears are primarily grown for the fresh market and for canning. One cul-
tivar, 'Bartlett', dominates the canning market. In
% of this to the USA (O'Rourke,
, out of a total US
production of
tons were of 'Bartlett' grown in
the states of California, Washington and Oregon of which
tons of pears,
tons (
%)
was processed (USDA,
-
). Over the ten years
-
an average of
