-There hasn’t been much research done on the post-harvest handling of the University of Saskatchewan hybrids.

-In the United States and Europe there has been considerable research done on the post-harvest handling of traditional sour cherries.

-For traditional sour cherries, it is a general standard that from harvesting to processing being finished should be about 9 hours to ensure high quality processed goods.
 

-The cherries must be put into cold water immediately after being pulled from the tree to start the firming process.

-The firming process is necessary to ensure proper pitting and proper flavour.

-When they are brought in from the field, they must be cooled in water again by flushing cold water through the cherries for a couple of hours until proper firmness has been achieved.

-When the cherries are firm enough then they can be pitted and then packaged up and shipped away to be processed.

-Firming reduces cracking of the pits and pits being left in the fruit during pitting of the fruit.

-Once they are pitted they can be frozen or preserved to be sent for further processing.
 
 

The Postharvest Information Network has a lot of information on the postharvest handling of cherries and other fruit crops from just after harvest to packaging and transportation of the final product. Door County Compass is a good site to go for a brief look at the processing process for sour cherries.