Even carefully hand picked fruit may require additional sorting and grading to make the best possible pack. Fruit mechanically harvested or hand-shaken from the vine will bruise during harvest and will spoil quicker. If the fruit is to be shipped a considerable distance or stored for a few days, select only those cultivars that have a dry stem scar or can be clipped as mature clusters. Cultivars with a wet stem scar will exude their juice onto the fruit surface and provide an ideal environment for the growth of spoilage organisms. Some growers pick, then grade and pack in a packing house, while other growers pick, grade, and pack in the field.
Quality control is more difficult with field packing.
Muscadine table grapes coming from the field and destined for a chain of convenience stores. Hand harvesting muscadines. Typically muscadines are picked about every seven days during the ripening season. Field boxes for transporting muscadines to the packing house. Grading muscadines after picking and before final boxing.