Abstract
The single greatest annual production cost for an established cider apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) orchard is the labor required to hand harvest. Reducing harvest labor time may increase the appeal and profitability of growing cider apples. Over-the-row mechanical harvest of cider apples using a modified Oxbo-Korvan 930 was evaluated in northwestern Washington, USA, in 2021, 2022, and 2023 in a fully mature cider apple orchard that was planted in 2014–2016. Sixteen cider apple cultivars grafted on ‘Geneva 935’ rootstock were summer hedged between 7 and 20 July each year of this study. Plant growth regulators were applied before harvest to equalize the timing of harvest among cultivars. There were no differences among cultivars for the percent of apples captured by the Oxbo-Korvan 930 harvester for the 3 years of this study. Across all years and cultivars studied, 82% of fruit were captured by the harvester. There also were no differences among cultivars for the percentage of fruit left on the tree by the harvester (9% of fruit on average), nor in the percentage of fruit dropped on the ground during harvest (9% of fruit on average). The overall mean number of branches broken during mechanical harvest across all cultivars was 1.4 per tree, and there were no differences among cultivars. ‘Sweet Alford’ had high spur removal (26 removed per tree), but excluding this outlier, only 6 spurs on average were removed per tree for all other cultivars. Laceration to fruit during mechanical harvest were positively correlated with mean fruit weight and mean fruit diameter. The overall average time required to mechanically harvest one tree in this orchard (1.8 m in-row spacing, 1495 trees·ha−1) was 5.3 s, averaging 2.9 s per row-meter traveled. The average time required to manually harvest one tree was 229 s (3.8 min). The juice quality of the mechanically harvested apples that were kept in cold storage and pressed within 42 d of harvest did not differ largely or consistently from juice quality of apples that were pressed within 3 d of harvest, except that sugars (measured through ºBrix and specific gravity) increased with storage time, as expected. Mechanical harvest using the modified Oxbo-Korvan 930 appears to be a labor-efficient and effective method of harvesting cider apples, and testing is needed in commercial orchards to evaluate its viability compared to other harvest technologies.
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Claims 15
Claim · model-written summary
Mechanical harvest captured 82% of fruit across all years and cultivars
- Taxon
- Malus domestica
Malus domesticat0 - Outcome
- fruit were captured by the harvestere1
- Value
- 82%e1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“Across all years and cultivars studied, 82% of fruit were captured by the harvester”
Claim · model-written summary
Percent of apples captured by the harvester did not differ among cider apple cultivars
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Material
- cultivarse1
- Outcome
- percent of apples captured by the Oxbo-Korvan 930 harvestere1
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“There were no differences among cultivars for the percent of apples captured by the Oxbo-Korvan 930 harvester for the 3 years of this study”
Claim · model-written summary
Percentage of fruit left on the tree by the harvester did not differ among cultivars, averaging 9%
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Material
- cultivarse1
- Outcome
- percentage of fruit left on the treee1
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede1
- Value
- 9%e1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“There also were no differences among cultivars for the percentage of fruit left on the tree by the harvester (9% of fruit on average), nor in the percentage of fruit dropped on the ground during harvest (9% of fruit on average)”
Claim · model-written summary
Percentage of fruit dropped on the ground during harvest did not differ among cultivars, averaging 9%
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Material
- cultivarse1
- Outcome
- percentage of fruit dropped on the ground during harveste1
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede1
- Value
- 9%e1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“There also were no differences among cultivars for the percentage of fruit left on the tree by the harvester (9% of fruit on average), nor in the percentage of fruit dropped on the ground during harvest (9% of fruit on average)”
Claim · model-written summary
Mechanical harvest broke 1.4 branches per tree on average
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- number of branches broken during mechanical harveste1
- Value
- 1.4 per treee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“The overall mean number of branches broken during mechanical harvest across all cultivars was 1.4 per tree, and there were no differences among cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Number of branches broken during mechanical harvest did not differ among cultivars
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Material
- cultivarse1
- Outcome
- number of branches broken during mechanical harveste1
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“The overall mean number of branches broken during mechanical harvest across all cultivars was 1.4 per tree, and there were no differences among cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Sweet Alford had high spur removal of 26 per tree during mechanical harvest
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Material
- Sweet Alforde1
- Outcome
- spur removale1
- Value
- 26 removed per treee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“‘Sweet Alford’ had high spur removal (26 removed per tree)”
Claim · model-written summary
Other cultivars had on average 6 spurs removed per tree during mechanical harvest
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Material
- all other cultivarse1
- Outcome
- removed per treee1
- Value
- 6 spurse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“but excluding this outlier, only 6 spurs on average were removed per tree for all other cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Laceration to fruit during mechanical harvest was positively correlated with mean fruit weight and mean fruit diameter
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- mechanical harveste1
- Outcome
- Laceration to fruite1
- Direction
- positively correlatede1
- Qualifier
- mean fruit weight and mean fruit diametere1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“Laceration to fruit during mechanical harvest were positively correlated with mean fruit weight and mean fruit diameter”
Claim · model-written summary
Mechanical harvest of one tree took 5.3 s
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- time required to mechanically harvest one treee1
- Value
- 5.3 se1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“The overall average time required to mechanically harvest one tree in this orchard (1.8 m in-row spacing, 1495 trees·ha−1) was 5.3 s, averaging 2.9 s per row-meter traveled”
Claim · model-written summary
Mechanical harvest averaged 2.9 s per row-meter traveled
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- time required to mechanically harvest one treee1
- Value
- 2.9 se1
- Qualifier
- per row-meter travelede1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“The overall average time required to mechanically harvest one tree in this orchard (1.8 m in-row spacing, 1495 trees·ha−1) was 5.3 s, averaging 2.9 s per row-meter traveled”
Claim · model-written summary
Manual harvest of one tree took 229 s
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- time required to manually harvest one treee1
- Value
- 229 s (3.8 min)e1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“The average time required to manually harvest one tree was 229 s (3.8 min)”
Claim · model-written summary
Juice quality of mechanically harvested apples kept in cold storage for up to 42 days did not differ consistently from juice of apples pressed within 3 days
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- cold storagee1
- Outcome
- juice qualitye1
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede1
- Comparator
- pressed within 3 d of harveste1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“The juice quality of the mechanically harvested apples that were kept in cold storage and pressed within 42 d of harvest did not differ largely or consistently from juice quality of apples that were pressed within 3 d of harvest”
Claim · model-written summary
Sugars in juice increased with storage time
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- storage timee1
- Outcome
- sugarse1
- Direction
- increasede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“except that sugars (measured through ºBrix and specific gravity) increased with storage time, as expected”
Claim · model-written summary
Mechanical harvest with the modified Oxbo-Korvan 930 appears to be a labor-efficient and effective method for cider apples
- Taxon
- Malus domesticaMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- labor-efficient and effective method of harvesting cider applese1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Cider Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)”
e1“Mechanical harvest using the modified Oxbo-Korvan 930 appears to be a labor-efficient and effective method of harvesting cider apples”
The same questions in other papers
cold · quality: general · Malus domestica (apple)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 6 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
- positive
5 papers more in this group
See all 9 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.