There are only preliminary results relating maturity of Meridian apples at harvest to ex-store quality. Indications are that starch levels decline too late to be of use as an indicator of harvest date for storage. A significant change in starch levels was associated with the development of greasiness of the skin.

Ethylene concentrations in the fruit were low in fruit sampled at all picking dates and, therefore, ethylene evolution is unlikely to be of use as indicator of optimum harvest date.