Cranberry Stressline

August 2001

 

Before Ambiguous - are they a new variety or not? (Excerpts from the Ocean Spray August 2001 press release) Every fall, cranberry growers head out to the bogs for the annual harvest, something well known for its magnificent crimson beauty. The deep colors of the red harvest against a blue skyline create a breathtaking sight. For the first time this year, however, Ocean Spray growers will be harvesting a crop of a different kind - white cranberry. That's right -- WHITE! These smoother, milder tasting berries will make their "white carpet" debut in early September when Ocean Spray introduces the first-ever line of White Cranberry Juice Drinks...  Harvested just a few weeks earlier than red cranberries, white cranberries are inherently lighter in color and deliver a smoother, milder taste. With the introduction of the white cranberry, cranberries are now harvested twice in one season - the late summer white harvest and fall red harvest. There are about 100 varieties of cranberries grown. Ocean Spray White Cranberry Juice Drinks are made from select cranberry varieties, grown only in certain areas of the country. While the tart, red berries have won a loyal following of millions of cranberry lovers worldwide, there are those who don't fancy their full-force flavor. Now there's a way for those consumers to enjoy the healthy goodness of cranberry without having to pucker up. Sections in bold suggest that white cranberries may be a different variety than red cranberries. Coupled with the picture on the label and the label statement that the juice is made from "fully ripened cranberries" what else could the consumer think?

Now Much clearer language that white cranberries are an early harvested version of the red cranberry (Excerpts from the Trenton Times interviewing several Ocean Spray officials) Southern New Jersey's annual crimson tide of cranberries will roll in on schedule next month, but the berries won't be the first of the season. Harvest began yesterday for an early crop, picked while still in the white stage and destined for a new line of milder-tasting juices designed to help boost the flagging cranberry industry. Dubbed white cranberries, they are the same varieties as the familiar red ones, except they are harvested about three weeks earlier, before the cool September nights give them their familiar shade of deep crimson. "We have a two-week window to harvest while the berries are white," said Stephen V. Lee III of Lee Brothers. "The cranberries naturally ripen from green to white to red and you want them to be sweet enough." There's nothing new about white cranberries, Lee said. "Some berries never turn red. They are too far down under the vines and never see sunlight. They just get harvested with the red ones and made into juice." "A longer growing season produces more vines. The vines shade the berries and keep them from turning red," Lee said.  "Like white eggplant and white asparagus, we thought it might catch people's interest."

Cranberry Science

From the Ocean Spray White Cranberry Juice Drink label

by Hal Brown

In an article in the July 1999 issue of Cranberries Magazine entitled "Cranberry Cultivar Acreage Survey: Are we shunning genetic diversity?" by Teryl R. Roper, a survey by the Cranberry Marketing Committee was published showing the planted cranberry acreage by cultivar. Stevens (13,453), Early Blacks (6,866), Howes (4,693), Ben Lear (2,749), McFarlin (2,686), Searles (2,571), Pilgrim (710), and Bergman (555) accounted for most of the production. Ocean Spray has said that the white cranberry harvest is divided between  2/3rds Howes and 1/3rd Stevens, although there was a photograph of white Searles being harvested in a Wisconsin newspaper. 

LeMunyon (212), Natives (141) Mixed (653) and Other (365) accounted for the rest. According to Paul Eck (The American Cranberry, page 62) in the 150 years since the commercial cultivation of cranberries there have been 132 selections from the wild propagation in addition to the seven improved cultivars obtained from controlled hybridization. In a table of colors, Eck describes the primary cranberries currently being grown in the United States as follows: Been Lear - deep red, Bergman - red, Crowley, deep red, Early Black - dark, Franklin - red to dark red, Howes - good red color, McFarlin - deep red, Pilgrim - dark, Searles -deep red, and Stevens -deep red.

F. B. Chandler, Research Professor, and Irving DeMoranville, Instructor,  write in the classic "Cranberry Varieties of North America (Experimental Station, College of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Bulletin 513 in 1958): of the then "Big Four" variety of Cranberries, the Early Black, Howes, McFarlin, and Searles.

Early Blacks: "The berries are blackish red when ripe...."
Howes: "The fruit ripens late, usually the first week in October, the berries turning medium red when ripe."
MrFarlin: "The fruit ripens late, usually the second week in October, with deep red berries..."
Searles: "The fruit ripens in mid season, usually the third or fourth week in September. The berries are deep red when ripe..."
Stevens, which along with Howes are the primary varieties being used for the white cranberry juices, were not one of the common varieties in 1958. They are a McFarlin X Potter cross. Chandler and DeMoranville's chart (page 16) describes their berry color as deep red.

Ripe vs. Mature

by Hal Brown

8/30/01 My understanding from talking to a few agriculture scientists was that ripe fruit was  fruit that had viable seeds, while mature fruit was fruit that had developed its full flavor and color. Hence my Betty Boop cartoon. However in doing a web search I found that there is substantial confusion in the definition of the terms. 

Consider the excerpt from Texas A&M below:

"Mature" and "ripe" are not synonymous terms when applied to most fruits. Mature fruit have all of the internal components necessary to fully ripen even if they are picked before they are ready to eat. But a ripe fruit is at the point at which it is ready to eat. Many fruits, including peaches, reach maturity while still hard, several days before they ripen.

Harvesting fruit at proper maturity and storing it under proper conditions can be just as important as a good spray program. Immature fruit lacks characteristic flavor and texture, while over-ripe fruit is usually mealy with rapid tissue breakdown and does not hold up in storage.

Where ripening characteristics are concerned, fruits fall into three categories:

• Those picked green-mature for storage, but whose flavor is not as good as that of fruits that reach full maturity on the tree (such as peaches, nectarines and plums).
• Those picked and ripened in storage, whose flavor is as good or better than tree-ripened (including avocados and bananas, which mature on the tree but do not reach peak flavor until picked and held for 4 to 5 days at room temperature).
• Those fruits that must ripen on the tree or vine (such as grapes, blackberries and citrus).

From Texas A&M Extension Service

Texas A&M reverse the meaning completely. However, other scientific articles on specific fruits use the words interchangeably, while still others use them as I understood them to mean ripe = viable seeds and mature = full development. 

The USDA says the following:

Degree of Ripeness -- The terms "hard," "firm," and "soft," are subjective terms used to describe the degrees of maturity or ripeness of a fruit. A "hard" texture will not give when pressed. A "firm" texture will give slightly to pressure. A "soft" texture will be soft to the touch.

Mature -- Describes a fruit that is ready to be picked, whether or not it is ripe at this time. If a fruit is picked when mature, it can ripen properly, but if picked when immature, it cannot ripen properly.

Ripe -- Describes a fruit that is ready to be eaten.  Reference

The University of California Extension Service says:

Maturity at harvest is the most important factor that determines storage-life and fruit quality to the consumer. Immature fruits are more likely to shrivel and are of inferior quality when ripe. Overripe fruits are likely to become soft and mealy soon after harvest. Fruits picked either too early or too late in the season are more likely to have a shorter storage-life than those picked at the proper maturity.

All fruits, with a few exceptions (such as pears, avocados, and bananas), reach their best eating quality when allowed to ripen on the tree or plant. Some fruits are picked mature but unripe so they can withstand the postharvest handling when shipped long distance. Most are picked at a time which is a compromise between the best eating quality to the consumer and that which provide the needed flexibility in marketing. Reference

The following is from a Horticulture class at the University of Wisconsin on fruit maturity and ripening

I. As fruit nears harvest changes occur that will ultimately make the fruit palatable. In the wild this aids in dispersion of the offspring (seeds) and affords the next generation the opportunity to grow in a different site. This also prevents the offspring from competing with the parent plant for light, water and nutrients.

II. Ripeness and physiological maturity are not the same thing

A. Immature = the stage of development before fruit are mature

B. Physiological maturity = having completed their development and the rate of growth has slowed. When harvested the fruit is capable of continuing normal development towards acceptable eating quality. Can only happen while attached to the plant.

C. Ripe = having reached a peak of flavor, aroma, texture and juiciness and ready to eat. May occur off or on the plant depending on the species.

D. Senescence = The final stage of fruit development when fruit are beyond ripe and breakdown and decay begin. Primarily a breakdown process, but new enzymes & products can be formed. Reference

Does this matter? If in fact, the definition of ripe, C above, is commonly accepted by food scientists, calling white cranberry fully ripened, may be untrue. It comes down to the meaning of the word "a" in the sentence highlight in red. Can there be more than one "peak of flavor, aroma, texture and juiciness?" If so, Ocean Spray may be free and clear with the FTC, which regulates language on labels.  However, if there can only be one "peak" of "flavor, aroma, texture and juiciness," I think that most impartial readers would agree that the crimson cranberry (whether you call it fully ripe or mature) stands alone on that particular peak.

More articles

Fruits Have Ways Of Signaling When They're Ripe

Choosing Fruit That's Truly Ripe 

Know when fruits are ripe 

Based on the Ocean Spray Press Release

Doanne Andresen: Open Letter to the Cranberry Marketing Committee and the USDA

Economics seen forcing growers out of business

by Karen Dusek
Middleboro Gazette

8/16/01 Middleboro -- With the latest per barrel return to Ocean Spray growers at $11.43 - as low as $7 per barrel for independents - and indications that it will take three to five years for returns to get back to a sustainable level, cranberry growers in the area are taking a long, hard look at their future. CONTINUED

O.S. Press Release: The Cranberry Gets a Makeover; Ocean Spray to Harvest First Crop of 'White Cranberries'

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