Sara Serra, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor of Tree Fruit Production and Physiology
290 University Drive
Biglerville, PA 17307
- Email sxs7652@psu.edu
- Teams Call me on Teams
- Pronouns She/Her
Areas of Expertise
- Tree Fruit training systems, rootstocks, pruning, fruit set, pollination, flower biology, netting, precision crop load management, fruit quality and pre-harvest fruit quality affecting it, consumer liking, dry matter. Main crop of research: apple, peach, pear.
Education
- Ph.D. (2009) Fruit Tree Science and Forestry and Landscape Ornamental Agro-Systems, University of Bologna (Italy)
- M.S. (2004) Agricultural Biotechnology, University of Bologna (Italy)
She is currently an Assistant Professor of Tree Fruit Production and Physiology at Penn State University in Biglerville; she started in August 2025 with 70% research and 30% extension appointment. Prior to that, she spent the last 12 years at Washington State University in Wenatchee focusing on Tree Fruit Physiology and Management. Her research experience is mainly on tree fruit physiology, orchard management (training system, rootstock, pruning and netting), flower biology and fruit quality at harvest and post-harvest. The main crops of interest for her are apple, pear and peach. She served as Chair of the Pomology working group for the American Society of Horticulture Science in 2021, she co-organized the “Innovative perennial crops management” symposium at the International Horticultural Conference in France in 2022.
Publications
Impact of Crop Load on Fruit Size, Color and Return Bloom of ‘Honeycrisp’ Apple across Four US Locations
HortScience, Gonzales Nieto, Luis, Einhorn, Todd, Kon, Thomas, Musacchi, Stefano, Serra, Sara, Robinson, Terence, 2025
An Apple Fruit Set Prediction Model From Distributions of Fruitlet Mass Accurately Estimates Abscission in Four Disparate Regions of the United States
HortScience, Hillmann, Laura, Gonzales Nieto, Luis, Kon, Thomas, Larson, Jimmy, Musacchi, Stefano, Robinson, Terence, Serra, Sara, Einhorn, Todd, 2025
Performance of ‘Honeycrisp’ Apple Trees on Several Size-Controlling Rootstocks in the 2014 NC-140 Rootstock Trial after Ten Years
Journal of the American Pomological Society, Cline, John, Autio, W., Clements, John, Cowgill, Win, Crassweller, Rob, Einhorn, Todd, Francescatto, Polianna, Gonzalez Nieto, Luis, Hoover, Emily, Lang, Greg, Lordan, Jaume, Moran, Renee, Muehlbauer, Megan, Musacchi, Stefano, Parra Quezada, R., Schupp, Jim, 2025
Tree Characteristics and Management Recommendations for WA 64
WSU Extension Technical Bulletin, Sallato, Bernardita, Serra, Sara, Mendoza, Manoella, Evans, Kate, Musacchi, Stefano, 2025
WA 38 Flower Biology, Fruit Set and Crop Load Management
WSU Extension Technical Bulletin, Serra, Sara, Sheick, Ryan, Salalto, Bernardita, Schmidt, Tory, Musacchi, Stefano, 2025
Rootstock and crop load affect maturity and quality of ‘Honeycrisp’ apples under Washington State growing conditions
Scientia Horticulturae, Baldassi, Claudia, Roeder, Stefan, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2025
Effects of reflective material deployed at bloom for 1, 2 or 5 months on ‘WA 38’ apple fruit set, quality and yield
Scientia Horticulturae, Serra, Sara, Sheick, Ryan, Schmidt, Tory, Musacchi, Stefano, 2024
Rootstock and Crop Load Effects on ‘Honeycrisp’ Photosynthetic Performance and Carbohydrate Accumulation
Plants, Baldassi, Claudia, Berim, Anna, Roeder, Stefan, Losciale, Pasquale, Serra, Sara, Gang, David R., Musacchi, Stefano, 2023
Metabolic fingerprint of ‘WA 38’ green spot symptoms reveals increased production of epicuticular metabolites by parenchyma
Scientia Horticulturae, Sheick, Ryan, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, Rudell, David, 2023
Studies in precision crop load management of apple
Acta Horticulturae, Robinson, T. L., Gonzalez, L., Cheng, L., Ziang, Y., Peck, G., Arnoldussen, B., Gomez, M., Guerra, M., Sazo, Mario Miranda, Kahlke, C., Einhorn, T., Wallis, A., Musacchi, S., Serra, S., Lewis, K., Schmidt, T., Heinemann, P., He, L., Kon, T., Sherif, S., Clements, J., Layer, C., 2023
Effects of harvest timing on maturity, fruit quality, and consumer acceptance of ‘WA 38’ apples
Acta Horticulturae, Serra, S., Goke, A., Sheick, R., Mendoza, M., Schmidt, T., Hanrahan, I., Ross, C., Musacchi, S., 2023
Studies on physiological and productive effects of multi-leader training systems and Prohexadione-Ca applications on apple cultivar 'WA 38′
Scientia Horticulturae, Musacchi, Stefano, Sheick, Ryan, Mia, Md Jebu, Serra, Sara, 2023
Non-invasive sensing techniques to phenotype multiple apple tree architectures
Information Processing in Agriculture, Zhang, Chongyuan, Serra, Sara, Quirós-Vargas, Juan, Sangjan, Worasit, Musacchi, Stefano, Sankaran, Sindhuja, 2023
Investigations of Multiple Approaches to Reduce Green Spot Incidence in ‘WA 38’ Apple
Agronomy, Sheick, Ryan, Serra, Sara, Rudell, David, Musacchi, Stefano, 2022
‘WA 38’ abscission and fruit development in an open pollination scenario
Acta Horticulturae, Serra, S., Sheick, R., Roeder, S., Musacchi, S., 2022
Influences of Propagation Method, Rootstock, Number of Axes, and Cultivation Site on ‘Fuji’ Scions Grown as Single or Multi-Leader Trees in the Nursery
Agronomy, Lezzer, Paolo, Tustin, Stuart, Corelli-Grappadelli, Luca, Serra, Sara, Anthony, Brendon, Dorigoni, Alberto, Musacchi, Stefano, 2022
Pistil Biology of ‘WA 38’ Apple and Effect of Pollen Source on Pollen Tube Growth and Fruit Set
Agronomy, Serra, Sara, Roeder, Stefan, Sheick, Ryan, Musacchi, Stefano, 2022
Effective pollination period and parentage effect on pollen tube growth in apple
Plants, Roeder, Stefan, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2021
Novel metrics to characterize in vitro pollen tube growth performance of apple cultivars
Plants, Roeder, Stefan, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2021
Determination of post-harvest biochemical composition, enzymatic activities, and oxidative browning in 14 apple cultivars
Foods, Serra, Sara, Anthony, Brendon, Boscolo Sesillo, Francesca, Masia, Andrea, Musacchi, Stefano, 2021
Photoselective protective netting improves ”honeycrisp” fruit quality
Plants, Serra, Sara, Borghi, Stefano, Mupambi, Giverson, Camargo-Alvarez, Hector, Layne, Desmond, Schmidt, Tory, Kalcsits, Lee, Musacchi, Stefano, 2020
Characterization of a novel S-RNase allele and genotyping of new apple cultivars
Scientia Horticulturae, Sheick, Ryan, Serra, Sara, Tillman, John, Luby, James, Evans, Kate, Musacchi, Stefano, 2020
Determination of biochemical composition in peach (prunus persica l. batsch) accessions characterized by different flesh color and textural typologies
Foods, Serra, Sara, Anthony, Brendon, Masia, Andrea, Giovannini, Daniela, Musacchi, Stefano, 2020
Manipulation of fruit dry matter via seasonal pruning and its relationship to d’Anjou pear yield and fruit quality
Agronomy, Goke, Alex, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2020
Optimization of light interception, leaf area and yield in "wA38": Comparisons among training systems, rootstocks and pruning techniques
Agronomy, Anthony, Brendon, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2020
Net enclosure of ‘honeycrisp’ and ‘Gala’ apple trees at different bloom stages affects fruit set and alters seed production
Agronomy, Elsysy, Mokhles, Serra, Sara, Schwallier, Phil, Musacchi, Stefano, Einhorn, Todd, 2019
Consumer perception of d'Anjou pear classified by dry matter at harvest using near-infrared spectroscopy
International Journal of Food Science and Technology, Serra, Sara, Goke, Alex, Diako, Charles, Vixie, Beata, Ross, Carolyn, Musacchi, Stefano, 2019
Preliminary study on effect of early defoliation on dry matter accumulation and storage of reserves on 'Abbé Fétel' pear trees
Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science, Mesa, Karen, Serra, Sara, Masia, Andrea, Gagliardi, Federico, Bucci, Daniele, Musacchi, Stefano, 2019
Optimizing crop load for new apple cultivar: “WA38”
Agronomy, Anthony, Brendon, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2019
Canopy attachment position influences metabolism and peel constituency of European pear fruit
BMC Plant Biology, Serra, Sara, Sullivan, Nathanael, Mattheis, James P., Musacchi, Stefano, Rudell, David R., 2018
Characterization of a novel self-incompatibility allele in Malus and S-genotyping of select crabapple cultivars
Scientia Horticulturae, Sheick, Ryan, Serra, Sara, De Franceschi, Paolo, Dondini, Luca, Musacchi, Stefano, 2018
The influence of protective netting on tree physiology and fruit quality of apple: A review
Scientia Horticulturae, Mupambi, Giverson, Anthony, Brendon M., Layne, Desmond R., Musacchi, Stefano, Serra, Sara, Schmidt, Tory, Kalcsits, Lee A., 2018
Optimization of leaf area estimation in a high-density apple orchard using hemispherical photography
Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science, Knerl, Angela, Anthony, Brendon, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2018
Postharvest dry matter and soluble solids content prediction in d’anjou and bartlett pear using near-infrared spectroscopy
Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science, Goke, Alex, Serra, Sara, Musacchi, Stefano, 2018
Apple fruit quality: Overview on pre-harvest factors
Scientia Horticulturae, Musacchi, Stefano, Serra, Sara, 2018
Shade netting reduces sunburn damage and soil moisture depletion in ‘Granny Smith’ apples
Acta Horticulturae, Kalcsits, L., Asteggiano, L., Schmidt, T., Musacchi, S., Serra, S., Layne, D. R., Mupambi, G., 2018
Protective netting improves leaf-level photosynthetic light use efficiency in ‘honeycrisp’ apple under heat stress
Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science, Mupambi, Giverson, Musacchi, Stefano, Serra, Sara, Kalcsits, Lee A., Layne, Desmond R., Schmidt, Tory, 2018
Survey of ‘d’Anjou’ pear metabolic profile following harvest from different canopy positions and fruit tissues
Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science, Rudell, David R., Serra, Sara, Sullivan, Nathanael, Mattheis, James P., Musacchi, Stefano, 2017
Above and below-ground environmental changes associated with the use of photoselective protective netting to reduce sunburn in apple
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Kalcsits, Lee, Musacchi, Stefano, Layne, Desmond R., Schmidt, Tory, Mupambi, Giverson, Serra, Sara, Mendoza, Manoella, Asteggiano, Laura, Jarolmasjed, Sanaz, Sankaran, Sindhuja, Khot, Lav R., Espinoza, Carlos Zúñiga, 2017
Seasonal trends of starch and soluble carbohydrates in fruits and leaves of ‘Abbé Fétel’ pear trees and their relationship to fruit quality parameters
Scientia Horticulturae, Mesa, Karen, Serra, Sara, Masia, Andrea, Gagliardi, Federico, Bucci, Daniele, Musacchi, Stefano, 2016
Crop load influences fruit quality, nutritional balance, and return bloom in ‘Honeycrisp’ apple
Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science, Serra, Sara, Leisso, Rachel, Giordani, Luca, Kalcsits, Lee, Musacchi, Stefano, 2016
Effect of light microclimate on the quality of 'd'Anjou' pears in mature open-centre tree architecture
Biosystems Engineering, Zhang, Jingjin, Serra, Sara, S. Leisso, Rachel, Musacchi, Stefano, 2016
Specific changes of exocarp and mesocarp occurring during softening differently affect firmness in melting (MF) and non melting flesh (NMF) fruits
PLoS One, Onelli, E., Ghiani, A., Gentili, R., Serra, S., Musacchi, S., Citterio, S., 2015
Early proteomic changes in pear (Pyrus communis L.) calli induced by co-culture on microcallus suspension of incompatible quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.)
Scientia Horticulturae, Prinsi, Bhakti, Musacchi, Stefano, Serra, Sara, Sacchi, Gian Attilio, Espen, Luca, 2015
Study of the relation between peach ripening and phenolic compounds, Musacchi, S., Serra, S., Noferini, M., Gagliardi, F., Bucci, D., Pagliuca, G., Zironi, E., 2015
Effect of cool storage duration on ripening initiation of 'Angelys®' pear fruit, Jajo, A., Corso, M., Bonghi, C., Dal Molin, A., Avanzato, C., Ferrarini, A., Delledonne, M., Rahim, Md A., Trainotti, L., Serra, S., Musacchi, S., 2015
New training systems for high-density planting of sweet cherry
Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science, Musacchi, Stefano, Gagliardi, Federico, Serra, Sara, 2015
