When choosing Shine Muscat grapes, it is easy to feel that a vivid green color makes them look fresher.
However, the process in which the skin changes from green to yellow-green can be a clue to ripeness.
Still, it is difficult to choose the grapes you want if you determine sweetness and quality based on color alone.
3-Line Summary
1. Shine Muscat grapes ripen to a yellow-green color
2. The harvest standard is a sugar content of 18 Brix or higher
3. Color is a supplementary indicator of ripeness
Yellow-Green Does Not Simply Mean the Grapes Have Changed from Being Old
As they ripen, Shine Muscat grapes gradually change from a green with a strong bluish tint to yellow-green. The Kyunghyang Shinmun, citing the ripeness assessment standards of the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science of the Rural Development Administration, reported that both a sugar content of 18 Brix or higher and changes in skin color should be examined at harvest.
Shine Muscat, a green grape, is not a variety that ripens to red or purple like typical grapes. This means that the fading of the green color and the appearance of a yellow-green hue are part of the maturation process. A tendency for sugar content to increase as ripening progresses was also introduced.
Therefore, if sweetness is your priority, it may be worth looking at bunches with a yellowish, yellow-green hue rather than seeking only grapes with an excessively deep green color. However, it cannot be confirmed that grapes are sweeter simply because they are yellow-green.
A Large Bunch Does Not Guarantee Sweetness
Bunch size is also not a single standard for judging flavor. In data from the Rural Development Administration introduced by the Kyunghyang Shinmun, a 500g bunch had a sugar content of 18.4 Brix, while a 700g bunch was listed at 15.6 Brix and a 1㎏ bunch at 14.7 Brix. These examples show that larger berries and a heavier bunch do not necessarily mean the grapes are sweeter or more flavorful.
Color and size are information that can be checked immediately in a store, but actual sugar content can vary depending on the growing environment, harvest timing, and fruit set. It is therefore better to consider the firmness of the grapes, whether there is browning, damage, or softness, and the freshness of the stems, rather than choosing based on just one conspicuous condition.
Exports Are a Plan to Expand Sales Channels
Hyeon-gok Nonghyup in Gyeongju made its first shipment of 8.5t of this year’s Shine Muscat grapes to Taiwan on September 4. According to the Nongmin Shinmun, Hyeon-gok Nonghyup set a target of 100t in exports to Taiwan this year and is providing participating farms with training on the safe use of pesticides and the production of fruit in sizes suited to local demand.
This is a plan to expand sales channels amid the on-site perception that prices have fallen because the domestic cultivation area has increased. It is important to distinguish that the target volume and the effects of revitalizing exports are not yet results, but plans and expectations of the cooperative and producers. When choosing grapes, directly checking their ripeness and condition is more practical than relying on the term “for export.”
References
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