Harvesting and Postharvest management of Pear

Harvesting and Postharvest management

       Fully mature fruits are harvested for fresh consumption, while still firm and green for canning and distant markets. For local consumption, fruits are picked at slightly later stage, because fruits hanging on trees make a considerable gain in size, weight and overall quality. However, delayed picking reduces storage life and on canning such fruits develop unattractive chalky colour, turbid syrup and insipid flavour. Pear fruits are picked individually by giving a gentle twist rather than direct pull. Harvesting should be done in 2–3 pickings at 3–4 days interval rather than single picking. A well-managed orchard of pear Bartlett yields 30–35 tonnes/ha.

        Most pear cultivars ripen and develop best dessert quality at 15.6°–21°C and 80–85% relative humidity. High ripening temperatures (above 26°C) may impair flavour and texture of the fruits as they become mealy and fail to ripen.

        Pears after harvesting are cooled to a core temperature of –0.6° to –1.6°C to remove field heat and arrest ripening. Pre-cooling is not necessary if fruits are to be consumed within a few weeks of harvesting. Hydro-cooling reduces the incidence of shriveling and brown core without affecting weight loss or incidence of rot.

        Grading of fruits is very important for better returns. Bartlett pears are graded as extra large, large, medium and small having 8, 7, 6.5 and 5cm respectively. These grades are also known as extra class, class I, class II and class III. The mis-shapen, damaged, blemished and scared fruits should be excluded while grading.

           The wooden, plastic or cardboard boxes are generally used for packing pears. The fruits should be packed in layers. The bottom and top of the containers are properly cushioned with newspaper or dry grass for avoiding compaction and bruises to fruits. The fruits can also be wrapped individually in 10 micron HDPE bags before packing which maintains freshness and improves fruit quality compared with unwrapped fruits. Labelling of boxes indicating grade, cultivar and name of the orchard should be pasted, printed or stamped on the container. Pears can be stored for 120–245 days at –1°C and 85% relative humidity.