No. Maness et al., PERFORMANCE OF AN INSTRUMENT DESIGNED FOR, AND EVALUATION OF METHODS TO ASSESS, PEACH FRUIT IMPACT BRUISE SUSCEPTIBILITY, Journal of food quality, 18(4), 1995, pp. 335-353
A simple, inexpensive device was fabricated for imposing drop impact l
oads on fruit and tested using a 0.5 J load on peach [(Prunus persica
(L.) Batsch] fruit harvested at two maturity stages. The device consis
ts of an electromagnet to secure a metallic mass above the fruit, a he
ight adjustment for positioning the mass, a foot pedal switch for inte
rrupting current to the electromagnet, allowing the mass to strike the
fruit, and a thick aluminum base to prevent fruit movement upon impac
t. Following impact, fruit were stored at 2C for one week (to simulate
impact damage during harvest and packing, prior to short term cold st
orage). Impact bruise susceptibility was assessed after storage by bru
ise occurrence (without regard to bruise size), and by bruise severity
(measured as bruise depth, bruise width and bruise discoloration). Ma
turity at harvest had no effect on bruise occurrence, but did signific
antly effect bruise severity. Bruise depth was more sensitive than bru
ise width or discoloration to differences between cultivars. Cultivar
ranking for bruise susceptibility differed depending on the parameter
used to obtain the ranking.