Interest in producing elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis) fruit in North America has increased in recent years, including the subtropical climate of Florida. The fruit contain high amounts of antioxidants in both the juice and solid fractions and are processed into a wide variety of products. Fruit grow in clusters (cymes) of 500 or more fruit (1-2 mm diameter) each, and typically ripen at different rates, depending upon when the flowers were fertilized, the variety/selection and weather conditions. This non-uniform ripening from green to deep purple challenges growers, since unripe fruit must be removed. Delaying cyme harvest until all fruit ripen is not feasible since overripe fruit abscise before unripe fruit ripen. Fruit are typically destemmed from the cymes the day of harvest, either manually or with mechanized systems. Destemming can cause significant loss of salable product as the fruit are often crushed, releasing juice. In a series of tests, we investigated the potential to promote uniform ripening and detachment of elderberry fruit by postharvest exposure to gaseous ethylene, commercially used to initiate ripening in climacteric fruit crops. At a commercial farm in Chiefland, Florida, small segments (approximately 30 fruit each) were cut from cymes with 75% ripe fruit from three elderberry genotypes (DNS11, DNS23 and DNS36). The samples were returned to the UF Postharvest Laboratory that day, divided into two treatment groups ( /- 100 ppm ethylene) and sealed in glass jars (n=3; 3 segments/jar) at 22 °C/95% relative humidity. Jars were opened after 24, 48 and 72 hr to avoid CO2 accumulation; at each timepoint, one jar was removed and fruit examined; remaining jars were resealed and ethylene concentration was reestablished. Exposure to ethylene significantly increased ripe fruit detachment after 24 hr, however partially ripe fruit ripened after 48 hr, irrespective of treatment. Fruit juice content was 46%, pH=5.0. Ethylene did not affect the following parameters, although there were differences in germplasm: soluble solids content (7-14%), total titratable acidity (0.44-0.70%), and total anthocyanin content (8-20 mg · g-1). Attached or detached fruit lost 6-10% weight after 24 hr, whereas stems lost about 50% weight; after 48 hr, shrivel symptoms appeared and weight loss roughly doubled for these same groups. Consideration must be given as to exposure to ethylene for 24 hr for easy fruit removal versus holding for 48 hr for ripening with accompanied higher weight loss and shriveling.
