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In terms of nutrients, pears are superior to most fruits, including apples. They are eaten in the summer, compotes, juices, jams are prepared for the winter, dried. Storing pears is no more difficult than apples, but for some reason this is rarely done on subsidiary farms, and large farms are rarely associated with laying this crop for the winter.
The reason is not only that only winter varieties are suitable for this, which do not have time to reach consumer ripeness in most regions of Our Country. There are just no problems with this; for storage, fruit picking is carried out at the stage of removable maturity. Only in the State Register there are 35 late autumn and winter varieties of pears, in fact there are several times more of them. So there are plenty to choose from.
Features of collecting pears for storage
The main reason why pears are rarely laid for winter storage at home is that gardeners do not harvest correctly. It is a delicate culture and should not be treated like apples.
Summer and early autumn varieties are suitable only for processing and fresh consumption, their keeping quality is low. Late autumn and winter varieties are laid for storage. They are torn at the stage of removable ripeness, when the seeds are completely painted in a characteristic color, and the growth and accumulation processes enter the final phase. Pears are easily removed from the tree, as a cork layer is formed between the stalk and the branch.
The taste of fruits of removable ripeness is fresh, the aroma is weak, the flesh is firm. They ripen during storage. It takes 3-4 weeks, and for some varieties – more than a month.
To keep pears well, remove them in dry weather. You need to pick fruits carefully; in farms, most of the crop losses are due to careless handling of fruits during the harvesting process. Even skilled workers damage about 15% of pears.
The fruits of late varieties are covered with a natural protective shell – a wax coating. In order not to damage it, you need to remove the fruit with gloves. It is impossible to pull, twist, crush the fruits in order to pick them from the branch – this way you can damage the stalk or pear, leave dents on the peel, which will begin to rot during storage.
Preparing pears for storage
It is impossible to wash pears before laying in storage – this will destroy the wax protective layer. Even summer varieties, which should lie in the refrigerator for several days, are rinsed immediately before use.
If the surface is contaminated, for example, with bird droppings, it is carefully wiped off with a soft, dry cloth. The fruit is set aside to be stored separately and eaten first.
Pears with a broken stem, dents and any other damage – mechanical, caused by pests or diseases – will not lie for a long time.
If possible, the fruits should generally be removed from the tree, carefully examined, immediately wrapped in paper and laid out in boxes intended for storage. So the pears will be less injured. Of course, when time is short, or the harvest is too large, this is problematic.
In this case, immediately after harvesting, the pears are sorted out, putting all damaged fruits aside. Fruits are rejected even with a single dent or puncture made by an insect. They need to be stored separately from whole fruits, and eat immediately after the onset of consumer ripeness.
How to store pears for the winter
In order for late-autumn varieties to last until the New Year without loss, and winter ones to be eaten in spring, you need not only to harvest the crop correctly, but also to be able to save it. It is much easier to save apples – their peel and pulp are not so tender, and many owners manage to ruin the crop before the middle of winter. The pear is a delicate culture, when storing it, you must carefully follow all the rules, avoiding negligence.
How to save pears for the winter at home
Chill the pears before storing them, especially if they were picked at a high temperature. If the fruits plucked at 10-20 ° C are immediately transferred to storage or put in the refrigerator, they will become covered with condensate and rot. You need to cool the fruit quickly, since every day of delay reduces the keeping quality by more than 10 days.
The fruits are laid out in boxes for storage in 1-2 layers and placed in a room where the temperature is lower than that of the environment by about 5 ° C. After 8-10 hours, the container is transferred to a cooler place (5 ° C difference). And so on, until the temperature of the storage and the fruit is equal.
How to store pears in the refrigerator
Early autumn and summer varieties of pears are not stored for a long time. To extend their shelf life a little:
- whole, flawless fruits are placed in plastic bags, tied tightly and kept in the vegetable section of the refrigerator;
- small pears are placed in pre-sterilized and cooled 3-liter glass jars and rolled up with a lid.
So the fruits can be stored for several weeks.
Of course, no one bothers to keep winter and late autumn varieties of pears in the refrigerator. Those that are in plastic bags are examined every 2 weeks. But how many pears can be stored in the refrigerator?
How to keep pears fresh for a long time on the balcony
Ideal for storing winter varieties of pears at home is a temperature of 0-4 ° C at a humidity of 85-95%, no light. If it is possible to provide such conditions on a loggia or balcony, it is permissible to keep the fruits there.
As containers, wooden or cardboard boxes are used. To maintain moisture, each pear is wrapped in thin paper or sprinkled with clean shavings. The fruits are placed in boxes in no more than two layers. Tails should be directed upwards or be between the pears of the adjacent row. This arrangement is clearly visible in the photo.
To increase the humidity next to the boxes, you can put a bucket of water, and adjust the temperature by slightly opening and closing the window frames and the balcony door. When the temperature drops, the fruits are covered with old blankets.
You can put the pears in large bags of thick cellophane, and seal them tightly. Only before laying the fruit, you need to balance the temperature of the cellophane, fruit and storage. Otherwise, condensation will form in the bag and the pears will quickly deteriorate.
How to store pears for the winter in the cellar
Pears will last the longest in the cellar or basement. The necessary conditions:
- temperature from 0 to 4° C;
- humidity 85-95%;
- lack of sunlight;
- good ventilation.
About a month before harvesting, a storage facility is prepared. For this:
- the room is washed and cleaned;
- walls and ceiling are whitewashed with lime with the addition of 1% copper sulphate;
- clog all the cracks and carry out fumigation with sulfur dioxide (30 g of sulfur per 1 cubic meter of storage area);
- after 2-3 days, the room is ventilated.
Pears are laid out in cardboard or wooden boxes so that the fruits do not touch each other. If the harvest is large or there is little space, the fruit can be put in two layers, but at the same time they are layered with clean shavings or crumpled paper.
To increase humidity, you can place containers of water in the storage or wrap each fruit in thin paper. Every 2 weeks, the pears are inspected and removed all that show signs of any damage – dark spots, rot, soft spots, discoloration of the peel, uncharacteristic of the variety.
How to store pears so that they ripen
For the fastest ripening, pears are transferred to a room with a temperature of 18 to 20 ° C, washed thoroughly and laid out in one layer so that the fruits do not touch each other and sunlight falls on them. If you place ripe bananas, apples nearby, the process will speed up.
The ripening of pears is facilitated by keeping them at a temperature of 0-3 ° C for at least one day. The fruits taken from storage have been in suitable conditions for so long. Cold accelerates the onset of consumer ripeness of freshly picked fruits.
Winter pear varieties that have lain in storage for 3-4 weeks ripen in 1-4 days.
Can you store pears and apples together?
The main problem with the joint storage of vegetables and fruits is the release of ethylene, which accelerates their ripening. Ripe fruits exude a lot of gas, greenish – little. At a temperature of 0°, ethylene is practically not released.
According to the compatibility scale, pears and apples belong to group 1b and at temperatures from 0 to 2 ° C, humidity 85-95% can be stored together. In this case, among the fruits should not be ripe.
Do not store pears next to onions, garlic and potatoes because of the smell exhaled by vegetables. Fruits absorb them, lose their own flavor and become tasteless.
Which varieties are suitable for long-term storage
Late autumn and winter pears are best stored. Unfortunately, this culture is thermophilic, keeping varieties are most often cultivated in the southern regions. But some late pears are hardy enough to grow in Central Our Country and even the Northwest.
Belarusian Late
A pear variety bred by the Belarusian RNPD Unitary Enterprise “Institute of Fruit Growing” in 1969. Included in the State Register in 2002 and recommended for cultivation in the Central and Northwestern regions.
This is a winter pear variety that forms a rounded crown on a medium-sized trunk. Wide pear-shaped fruits weighing up to 120 g each. The main color is yellow-orange, with a blurred raspberry blush.
White pulp is oily, juicy, sweet and sour, tender. The taste is rated 4,2 points. The average yield is 122 centners per hectare.
Bere Winter Michurina
One of the oldest varieties entered in the State Register in 1947. It was created by I. V. Michurin in 1903 by crossing the Ussuri Pear with the Bere Dil variety. Recommended for cultivation in the Lower Volga and Central Black Earth regions.
This is a winter variety for general use. Forms a medium-sized tree with a spreading sparse crown, average productivity and winter hardiness.
Short pear-shaped asymmetrical fruits are small, weighing up to 100 g. The greenish-yellow peel is covered with large dots and small tubercles. Weak blush pink or brick.
The white pulp is dense, rough, juiciness is average, the taste is tart, sour, but pleasant.
Gera
Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Federal Scientific Center named after A.I. Michurin” in 2002 applied for the winter pear Gera. In 2009, the variety was accepted by the State Register and recommended for cultivation in the Central Black Earth region.
Forms a medium-sized tree with a rare narrow pyramidal crown. One-dimensional wide pear-shaped fruits are large, regular, weighing up to 175 g. The color of pears is uniform, green, without blush, with clearly visible gray dots.
The yellow flesh is tender, slightly oily, contains a lot of juice. The taste is estimated at 4,5 points, sweet and sour, the aroma is weak. Productivity – 175,4 centners per hectare.
The long-awaited
The application for registration of the variety was submitted by the Ural Federal Scientific Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Academy of Sciences in 1984. It was accepted by the State Register in 1996. This late autumn variety is recommended for cultivation in the West Siberian region.
Forms a medium-sized tree with a sparse flat-round crown. Pear-shaped slightly ribbed fruits on a long stalk are small, differ in size, their average weight is 60-70 g. The main color is yellow, the blush is blurry, dark red.
The color of the fine-grained tender juicy pulp is creamy. The aroma is weak, sweet and sour taste is estimated at 4,5 points. Variety of universal purpose, has high winter hardiness and resistance to scab.
Yakovlevskaya
In 2002, the variety was accepted by the State Register and recommended for cultivation in the Central Black Earth region. The originator was the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Federal Scientific Center named after A.I. Michurin”.
Variety Yakovlevskaya winter, forms a tree of medium height with a broom-like crown of straight red-brown shoots. One-dimensional elongated pear-shaped fruits of the correct form, weighing about 125 g, green with a burgundy blush and clearly visible gray dots.
The fine-grained pulp is tender and juicy, white in color. Evaluation of tasters – 4,5 points. The variety showed a yield of 178 centners per hectare and high resistance to septoria, scab.
Conclusion
Late autumn pears can be stored until the New Year, and winter ones – 3-6 months. In order for the fruits not to rot and retain commercial qualities, you need to collect them on time, carefully removing them from the tree, and create optimal conditions in the storage.