Page 57 - SA Fruit Journal VOLUME 14

Orchard factors and postharvest handling of fruit and nuts influenceon consumer qualityCriSOStOSStore prunes at -1.1 °C. 10% decay was found after 6 weeks with prunes stored at + 0,5 °C.The orchard productivity and consumer appeal of the new ‘Kalei’ scab resistant appleMiDDlEtOnDelegates were provided samples of the apples at registration. After 4,5 months of regular atmosphere storage, these full-coloured red apples were crisp and sweet, with a low acid. Apart from being scab resistant, the apples produced 80 - 100 tons/hectare with a class 1 packout of 80 – 90%. The apples retain their firmness during shelf-life and do not develop much oxidation browning when cut.Sensory-instrumental relationships that have transformed the concept of fruit quality in the fruit sector HarkErThe key to improving quality standards in the fruit sector has been the development of sensory-instrumental relationships e.g., those which define crispness and firmness, and sweet and acid taste. This has led to the successful implementation of consumer- centric quality standards by the New Zealand apple and kiwifruit industry. The determina- tion of dry matter content of apple is a good predictor of apple quality.Sensory and non-sensory factors of product experience.A consumer-centric perspective JaEGErTraditional new product development fo-cuses primarily on the sensory attributes of the product. Non-sensory aspects involving the consumer should also be taken into ac- count. These include branding, packaging, health and well-being, price (value for mon- ey), convenience, production technology and political/ethical factors. To take one ex- ample, price can vary according to the occa- sion. It is therefore necessary to understand the consumer to fully capture the product / consumer relationship.Understanding infection pathways and tree factors for integrated disease management of brown rot and grey mould in sweet cherry BarryIn this instance in Tasmania, no chemicals are applied after petal fall. Studies showed that 95% of the decay was due to botrytis, and no incidence of monilinia was found. Although infection increases toward harvest, substantial botrytis infection was found prior to 53 days before harvest.Using data from in-situ fruit as- sessment to inform pre- and post- harvest management decisions ZuDE-SaSSEIt was noted that ‘farming is easier with sen- sors'. Examples were shown of self-driven platforms and aerial drones. Data is collected by wireless sensor networks and analysed in geographical information systems, which in turn provides management information.Decision support tools that include models of fruit quality variability: from biological age, measurement uncertainty and other factors JOrDanThe difficulty with prediction models is that they do not always address sample variabil- ity. By using factors such biological ageing rate and hue angle (colour), the harvest of KiwiGold can be predicted 50 days in ad- vance. Near infrared (NIR) instruments can have significant uncertainties that add to the overall variability within a set of sample measurements. This allows a decision sup- port system to determine fractions of the population meeting specifications (e.g. per- centage of fruit above or below target).Recent innovations on postharvest diseases control: an overviewDrOByPostharvest pathogens either attack produce through surface wounds or intact / cracked surfaces of produce. Synthetic chemicals are still widely used for control despite consum- er resistance to residues. While there are new products such as pyrimethanil (Philabuster) and fludioxonil (Scholar), older products such as iprodione are being phased out in several countries. Extensive research has been conducted on biological products such as yeast and bacteria, but their application re- mains limited. The reason for this is their in- consistency and low control. A combination of multisystem approach incorporating two or more treatments, such as using a biological product together with heat treatment, which have a direct or indirect effect on the patho- gen, yields better results. A recent trend is that the multinationals are acquiring companies developing biological products. The focus in the future will increasingly be on molecular tools and mechanisms, with the development of resistant lines for breeding.SPA 365, a McIntosh-like apple with improved postharvest qualitiestOiVOnEnThe Canadian breeding focuses on improv- ing existing cultivars due to the high costTEGNOLOGIE 54 FEB | MAART 2015antOn MüllEr, technical advisor from KROMCO, shared his thoughts:“The Congress was a fantastic opportunity to network and we were exposed to so much new information. It was also an opportunity for us to compare our way of doing things with theirs, and to see what we do right and where we need to tweak our workings. I was most impressed with the research projects, especially the user-friendly technological innova- tions by the University of Sidney that takes orchard management to a whole new level. The growers impressed me with their labourer-friendly orchards, which makes their input costs just double that of ours, even though the average daily wage is twenty times higher than in South Africa.”