Technical Solutions for a New Product: Red Apple Juice

Abstract

A ‘Wijcik’-called, natural mutation of the 'McIntosh' kind of apple, with red pulp and light red juice, was discovered in the 50ies. It is characterized by its fruits growing very close to the trunk. The crown of these columnar tree is about 3-4 meters long, with a diameter about 20-30 cm. The advantage of this kind of tree is that tree-cut is mostly unnecessary, tunnel-spraying equipment can be used and harvesting maybe fully mechanised. This new product, combined with the new kind of cultivation, requires for new technologies for growing and harvesting. While labour becomes the limiting factor of production, handwork is impractical and thus a new method for mechanical harvesting in columnar apple growing is needed. For this purpose, a mechanical grape harvester, adapted for these special apple trees by modifying the harvesting head, is used to prove the suitability of this technique in pomiculture. Furthermore, tunnel spraying equipment is adapted for this purpose and tested as well, in order to enable drift and loss reduction in plant protection.