In the fruit industry, in the inadvertent or intentional remarks, the sea cherries and air cherries seem to become two different attributes of the commodity, so that the concern group of cherries is divided into air and sea. “Gourmets” and some boutique fruit e-commerce suppliers are interested in air cherries, thinking that the shipping time is too long, as short as 20 days, as long as 40 days, and the cherries shipped by sea are “preservatives”, not fresh, can not be eaten; On the other hand, businesses and consumers are more willing to accept sea cherries, because the price is more affordable, and the taste is not different from air cherries.From the perspective of food value, the taste of cherries is determined by the following points: 1. Variety, 2. Geographical and climatic conditions, 3. Planting conditions (pre-harvest), 4. Picking, packaging, preservation, transportation and other links (post-harvest).First, varietyThe varieties are very simple, and the late-maturing varieties generally have higher sweetness and crispness than the early-maturing varieties.Second, geographical and climatic conditionsThis is not difficult, but it needs to be popular science, cherries in the winter flowering, fruit-setting period need to maintain temperatures below 7 degrees Celsius for a long time, in hours, early varieties are 300-700 hours, medium varieties are 800-1000 hours, late varieties are more than 1000 hours. Low temperature is conducive to the accumulation of sugar, that is, the longer the cold time, the sweeter the fruit.Third, planting technical conditionsPlanting technology includes the management of soil, fertilizer, water supply, pruning, pollination and so on. Each farm has its own conditions and treatment methods, which is difficult to measure by unified standards, and is also the main reason for various high and low quality in the market.Fourth, harvesting, packaging, transportation and other linksIt is understood that due to the long journey, the harvest of imported cherries is usually 7 mature, and the taste has not reached the best state. In addition to the current scientific and technological conditions in picking, foreign countries have not yet achieved complete mechanization and automation, such as packaging, pre-cooling, warehousing, warehousing, inspection, installation/loading these links have been highly standardized; The domestic differences are mainly caused by general irregularities in various links such as harvesting, packaging, and transportation, such as the length of inventory period caused by the speed of circulation, and the impact of different modes of transportation on the cold chain.Obviously, from the first point down, there is no difference between air freight cherries and sea cherries at the first three points. What is the difference in number four? In general, from the orchard to the Chinese market, it takes about three to seven days to air cherries, and 20 to 40 days to sea cherries. Only air cherries, but also air direct flight and air transfer, not all air cherries are directly from the origin of the flight to China. The time difference of shipping cherries is mainly reflected in different places of origin: As we all know, Australia’s geographical location is relatively close to China, and the shipping time is much shorter than other countries; In distant countries, such as Chile, the normal shipping time takes 28-30 days, and the time can be longer if port strikes, missed ship schedules, stopping ships, or other situations.Therefore, simply put, the transport time of cherries by sea is generally more than 3 times that of air freight. General consumers will worry that such a long transportation time, the impact on quality will not be great? This problem leads to another problem, the preservation conditions and packaging of cherries.First of all, the best preservation condition of cherries is to gradually drop the temperature to 0~1 degrees Celsius and enter the hibernation state (this step is called precooling in the industry, and the precooling process usually takes 48~72 hours; The reason is not to directly drop to 0 to 1 degree Celsius at one time is to prevent the low temperature caused by cherry freezing or frostbite), and to maintain this temperature for dozens of days at sea. Usually in the warehouse, the cherries shipped by sea are usually added to the preservative (non-preservative), the preservative is mainly to prevent anthrax, keep the nutritional composition and color and flavor unchanged, and the auxiliary means and technical methods for short-term preservation of food. The addition of preservative to Marine cherries will extend the freshness of the buyers can eat fresh fruit, and the seller will not lose money because the fruit is damaged in transit.Packaging using air conditioning packaging technology, modern imported truck packaging will have sealed transparent plastic bags, if you have a little attention to know, not all the air in the plastic bag is removed, but contains air, but the air inside and outside the air flow has a relatively big difference, the air inside the bag is adjusted, in a significant reduction in oxygen concentration at the same time, The concentration of nitrogen is increased to further inhibit the respiration of cherries and extend the shelf life of cherries.In the case of meeting the above two points and maintaining the whole cold chain, the fresh life of cherries is not only ten days or eight days in the impression of consumers, but can reach 60 days or even more. Most consumers may not know that there is another difference between air transport and sea transport, that is, from one airport to another, including entering the airport, unloading the truck, loading it into the aircraft bin, the whole voyage, arriving at the destination, customs inspection and quarantine, leaving the airport, and so on, there is no cold chain in all these links.For the early cherry varieties, due to their relatively short shelf life, the first choice is obviously air transport; For medium and late ripening varieties, the difference between air and sea transport is more due to changes in the state of the branches (darkening and dehydration) than to changes in nutrition and taste.To think about it from another perspective, it becomes more interesting to look at the difference between air and sea transport in terms of the value of commerce and buying and selling.First of all, from the perspective of farmers and exporters, shipping cherries is the main source of income, it is understood that due to the Chinese market’s enthusiasm for cherries, the vast majority of farmers are a month before the start of the season to collect money from buyers, the first at least 70% will be shipped, and who gives more who has priority. As long as this 70% is collected, it is enough to earn a year’s expenses, and as the purchase price rises every year, the profit is getting higher and higher. Although the price of air transport is much higher than that of sea transport, the number is small, and the overall profit is not as good as that of sea transport.Second, from the perspective of importers and wholesalers, the capital risk of air freight cherries is low, the turnover is fast, but the sales time is limited; The capital risk of Marine cherries is high, and if there is a problem, it may lose everything.Finally, from the point of view of consumers, air freight cherry quantity is small and the unit price is high, ordinary consumers can only hope to stop, sea freight cherry volume is large, retail unit price can even hit 20-30 catty, it is good news for ordinary consumers.In summary, due to the maturity of technology, Marine cherries do not add preservatives, but add food preservatives within a controllable range (it is recommended to wash more before eating, do not eat directly); For the cherries from the same origin, the same variety and the same maturity, the taste of the cherries by sea and air is almost no difference; Of course, it tastes better if you pick it by air and it’s a little ripener.