Abstract
To establish the optimal transportation method for peach fruit harvested at the fully ripe stage, we examined changes in fruit size, quality and flesh firmness during maturation, and the influence of harvesting ripeness and storage temperature on fruit keeping quality. In addition, we investigated truck transportation. The harvesting stage for fully ripened fruit transportation would be just before reaching the peak of fruit enlargement, indicated by fading of the green color of the peach skin in the stalk cavity. The time was comparable to the fourth to sixth day after the harvest time for machine sorting of fruit, and on the second to third day after the harvest time for hand sorting. The fully ripened fruit softened quickly at room temperature, but retained flesh firmness when stored at less than 5°C. The freshness retention period of the fully ripened fruit was about two days at room temperature, and about ten days at 0°C. When the fully ripened fruit harvested at the optimum time noted above were transported between Okayama and Kyoto under a low-temperature condition such as 5°C or less, the firmness and taste of fruits were sufficiently maintained and were not spoiled.
