Abstract

Plastic covers protect fruits from cracking caused by pre-harvest rains in sweetcherry orchards; however, they can decrease the quality parameters of cherries, such asfirmness, titratable acidity, color, and sugar content. This study evaluated the impact ofa reflective ground film used for 21 or 34 DBH (days before harvest) in a commercialsweet cherry orchard (cv. Regina) grown under plastic cover in southern Chile. Ourstudy showed that the exposition of cherry trees to the reflective film increased firmnessand total soluble solid (TSS) content in fruits at harvest, homogenizing the concentrationof sugars in fruits along the tree canopy. Additionally, using reflective film for 21 DBHincreased the proportion of fruits greater than 32 mm in the upper canopy and the quantityof mahogany-colored cherries in the lower canopy, compared to trees un-exposed to thereflective film. Concerning fruit condition defects, the results reveal that using the reflectivefilm increased the incidence of cracking in fruits in both the upper and lower zones ofthe canopy. Furthermore, we found that the incidence of orange skin and pitting in fruitsdecreased at post-harvest in trees exposed to the reflective film, but depending on thecanopy zones. Moreover, fruits of trees exposed to the film for 34 DBH exhibited a higherincidence of browning pedicel post-harvest. Finally, according to our results, the antioxidantactivity increased in fruits exposed to the reflective film for 21 DBH. Therefore, we canconclude that using reflective films on sweet cherry orchards can improve and homogenizethe maturity parameters and the antioxidant activity of fruits; however, this practice cannegatively impact the condition of fruits post-harvest.