MECHANICAL HARVESTING AND QUALITY OF ´MARRONI´ CHESTNUT

The chestnut (Castanea sativa) growing represents a typical secondary cultivation that allows to maintain agriculture alive also in marginal areas otherwise neglected.
The ‘Marroni’ chestnut variety is the most appreciated and delicate one, This research aimed to demonstrate that also this cultivation allows setting mechanised yards for the harvest of the fruits, which can reduce harvesting times and costs without compromising fruit quality.
Authors have compared the behaviour of two self-propelled machines, a vacuum and a mechanical harvester, to hand picking.
Several laboratory tests were performed to quantify damages (splits, bruises, abrasions), than to estimate the storage of the fruits after the “curatura” treatment.
The damages consisted mainly of light pericarp abrasions which do not determine the exterior appearance and the quality of the product itself. ‘Marroni’ chestnuts without petiole ranged by 20 to 22.4% in case of hand picking, by 44 to 49.7% in case of harvesting with vacuum machine and by 45 to 63% for the mechanical harvester.
The colorimetric analysis on healthy ‘Marroni’ chestnuts taken from the different theses showed a remarkable similitude, both for hue angle and the saturation index.
The results showed that ‘Marroni’ chestnuts can be mechanically harvested with an effectively cost reduction without having any consequences on the quality and the marketability of the picked ‘Marroni’ chestnuts.

V International Postharvest Symposium

D. Monarca, M. Cecchini, D. Antonelli, M.L. Mordacchini Alfani, M.C. Salcini, R. Massantini

Castanea sativa, ´Marroni´ chestnut, conservation, damage, harvest, machines, fruit quality

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.682.158