Time to First Harvesting:
Annona species usually start flowering between 3–6 years after planting out, depending on the type of propagation, cultural practices such as pruning or hand pollination, and climate.
- Flowering occurs gradually over many months, so harvest time is spread over a period of months also.
Ripeness and Yield:
Annona fruits reach complete ripeness individually, so harvesting should be carried out selectively.
- The time to harvest is called the “harvest point”, determined by fruit skin colour, which changes during the transition from physiological maturity to full eating ripeness.
- Cherimoya and sugar apple change from greyish green to yellowish-green, but their pulp should be firm.
- Soursop skin changes from dark green to slightly yellowish-green.
- Sugar apple fruits reach the “harvest point” for local markets when the segments (carpels) are spread far apart, exposing a yellow creamy skin in the inner part between carpels.
- Wild soursop is ripe when the white specks on the skin become orange-yellow.
Skin colour index:
A skin colour index to guide harvest depends on the market place.
- For local market, harvest annona fruits with 20 to 40% yellowish skin, which will ripen between 4 to 6 days later. For sugar apple, there is a very short time (maximum 3 days) from “harvest point” to “consumption point”.
- For export markets 10% to 20% yellow is satisfactory.
- Fruits harvested with more than 75% yellowish skin ripen within 3 days.
- Those harvested with less than 5% do not ripen completely.
- The most suitable time of day to harvest is after overnight dew has evaporated, when fruits are dry and fungal rot contamination is less likely. The yield of an annona tree varies depending on region, species or cultivar, cultural practices and climatic conditions.
- Cherimoya cv. ‘Fino de Jete’, at 7 years old, yields an average of 43 kg of fruit per tree.
- Soursop, beginning to bear when 3 years old, yields 24 fruits per tree, and when 7 years old reaches its maximum yield of 100 kg per tree.
- Sugar apple, 6 years old, can yield 50–60 fruits per tree. In semi-arid tropical climates an irrigated sugar apple tree can produce two harvests: a main harvest during the rainy season, with a higher yield (60 fruits per tree), with a second harvest with a lower yield occurring during the dry season (< 30 fruits per tree).
Harvesting Techniques:
Annona fruits should be hand-harvested by cutting the stalk with pruning scissors, leaving 0.5 to 1 cm of it to avoid loss in weight and post-harvest fungal diseases.
- Depending on tree size some species, such as sugar apple or soursop, are harvested by climbing the tree, using a ladder or a picking pole with a hook and a basket at its end.
- Soursop harvest is more difficult and time-consuming than other annonas because trees are usually taller and fruits are larger.
- Soursop left on the tree will eventually fall off naturally and, on the ground, will become rotten and unmarketable.
- These fruits should be picked up and destroyed as they encourage pests and diseases to reproduce and spread throughout the orchard.
- To keep the orchard in good condition all annona fruits should be harvested.
Author:
D. Jackson
