Pre- and post-harvest assessment of fruit yield and quality for advanced raspberry selections

Anne Marie Potel is doing a four-month internship at the HRDC which involves comparing five advanced raspberry selections with four known varieties.
The research has several aims:

1. Evaluation of the size and yield of fruit from harvests conducted twice a week, noting any disease found on the berries; 
2. After the harvest, Anne Marie will measure a number of characteristics such as epidermis texture, taste and aroma, colour, shape, pubescence, adherence to receptacle, cohesiveness of drupelets, size, shininess, firmness (using a Durofel), and titrable acid and soluble solid content; 
3. She will also conduct post-harvest conservation tests under three conditions: 

a). Room temperature: monitoring of juice loss, post-harvest development of disease (caused mainly by Rhizopus, Botrytis and Penicillium), and the appearance of the berries until they are no longer saleable;
b). Monitoring of the same criteria at 4°C
c). Freezing at -20°C and then thawing to measure juice loss and see if the berries keep their shape or break down  

4. Recording of the characteristics on the “Objective Description for Raspberry” form, in connection with an application for plant breeders’ rights, to be published in the Plant Varieties Journal. 

In short, Anne Marie is comparing five advanced selections with four known varieties in order to promote a new raspberry variety with promising storage, yield and disease resistance characteristics.

Address:

Anne Marie Potel
Maîtrise Sciences et techniques en Biophysiologie appliquée aux

productions végétales
Université d'Angers
Faculté des Sciences
2, boulevard Lavoisier
49000 ANGERS
FRANCE

 

Professor: Jean Daniel Viemont
The persons in charge of the training course: Shahrokh Khanizadeh & Johanne Cousineau