DS 41 Apple Tree Harvesting and Storage Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current apple tree varieties, such as 'Honeycrisp', face challenges in maintaining fruit quality during storage and shipment due to inadequate acidity, sugar content, and harvesting timing, which affects their commercial viability and freshness.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of the new apple tree variety 'DS 41', which exhibits improved fruit pressure, brix, pH, and harvesting date, producing fruit that is crisper, juicier, and maintains quality for longer periods, with characteristics like sunken lenticels and intense coloration, extending the harvesting period by 22 days compared to 'Honeycrisp'.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the apple tree variety is harvested earlier (like Honeycrisp in early September), then the fruit can be shipped and stored sooner, but the fruit lacks sufficient acidity, sugar content, and quality for optimal commercial viability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by selecting and breeding apple trees with specific genetic parameters that result in different physiological characteristics. The DS 41 variety has naturally different sugar content, acidity levels, and maturation timing parameters compared to Honeycrisp, allowing it to achieve optimal quality parameters (higher acidity, appropriate sugar content) at a later harvest date (early October) without compromising storage capability
2Reliability
If the apple tree variety is harvested later (extending the season), then the fruit has better flavor development with higher acidity and sugar content, but the storage and shipment timeline is extended which may affect freshness
Solution Approach 1:
The DS 41 variety exhibits different physiological parameters including higher acidity (pH 3.43 vs 3.75), different sugar content (Brix 13.5-13.9), and different firmness characteristics compared to Honeycrisp. These parameter changes allow the fruit to maintain quality and freshness throughout an extended storage period of up to five months, resolving the contradiction between later harvesting for quality and extended storage requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent describes the fruit as having excellent keeping quality with the ability to be stored for prolonged periods up to five months in cold storage with no substantial deleterious effects noted. This extends the commercial lifecycle of the fruit significantly beyond typical varieties
3Reliability
If the apple tree produces fruit with higher acidity and lower pH (sub-acid profile), then the flavor is improved, but the fruit may be more sensitive to storage conditions and degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The DS 41 variety has a sub-acid pH of 3.43 at harvest compared to Honeycrisp's 3.75, and maintains this lower pH throughout storage (3.52 after five months). This consistent pH parameter, combined with appropriate sugar content and firmness, creates a stable chemical composition that preserves flavor quality during extended storage, resolving the contradiction between acidic flavor and storage stability
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct variety of apple tree is described, and which is characterized as to novelty by producing an attractively colored apple which is mature for harvesting and shipment on approximately October 2 under the ecological conditions prevailing in Central Washington state.