Best practice handling to reduce flesh bruising

Abstract

Improving the quality of avocado fruit purchased by consumers is a primary goal of the Australian avocado industry. Flesh bruising is among the most common avocado quality defects encountered at retail. It can cause substantial consumer dissatisfaction. In our last Talking Avocados article (Winter 2017), we discussed production of more robust fruit through careful pre-harvest management and harvesting as a farm-based approach to reducing flesh bruising at retail. Here we discuss the post-harvest side of the issue in terms of: what can be done to limit exposure of the fruit to damage events likely to cause bruising; and, how much is ‘too much’ damage? We briefly review the current state of knowledge and propose best practice recommendations towards reducing flesh bruising at retail.