'Hard' cider unaffected by bumps and bruises

The consumption of alcoholic (‘hard’) cider is on the rise in the USA, with the rapid expansion leaving cider apple growers struggling to keep pace with demand.

Harvesting quickly and economically is a challenge, particularly for small growers. Because cider apples are smaller than regular apples, it takes longer to harvest them. Harvest labour can account for nearly half of the annual costs of an orchard in full production.

Mechanical harvest is the logical solution, however such a machine doesn’t exist for apples, which are generally grown in compact trellis systems and hand-picked to avoid bruising. It was assumed that mechanical harvest was likely to damage fruit, but what this meant for the final product was unknown.

Enter researchers at Washington State University who have studied the impact of mechanical harvesting of cider apples.

The team used a mechanical raspberry harvesting machine to pick Brown Snout cider apples. The machine passes over fruit trees that are no higher than 183 cm, knocking the apples from trees onto a conveyer belt for collection by workers into tote bins.

Researchers assessed the level of damage to the trees and tested the fruit to see what impact, if any, bruising had on fruit and juice quality.

The two-year study showed that machine harvesting required up to four times less labour than hand harvesting. Bruising did occur on all of the fruit, but it didn’t affect the quality of fruit or juice - whether the apples were processed immediately or cold stored for two to four weeks before pressing.

The research team hopes one day to test an olive harvester, which can pass over trees that are 3.5 m tall - the common height for modern apple orchards.