Future directions in postharvest handling of horticultural crops
Short Course Postharvest Biology and
Technology of Horticultural Crops
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
October, 2011
Future directions in • Production
• Harvest
• Handling
• Packaging
• Storage
• Transportation
• Marketing
What do farmers want?
What do customers want?
Nutritious food
• High in antioxidants, other phytonutrients
• Existing plant materials • Genetically modified
plant materials • Nutrition life shorter
than appearance life! • Better understanding of
the links among food, nutrition & health
• Overcome anti-nutritional toxins in food
Safe food
• Chemical residues – Organic – Residue testing – Toxins (fumonisin, aflatoxin)
• Microbial safety – GAPS – Disinfection
• Hot water brushing • Pre-blanching • Real-time pathogen testing
Safe food • Gloves
– Releasing ClO2
• Clamshells
– Protect ourselves from our neighbors
Tasty food
• Crisp tender vegetables, with good characteristic flavor
• Crisp or juicy fruit with high sugar, good acid balance
• Good aroma
• No off flavors
Tasty food
• NIR analysis
• Sugar determination
• Other taste components
Tasty food
• Grow better varieties
– Heirloom, high flavor cultivars
– Genetically modified cultivars
Tasty food • Harvest for taste
• The glove
Tasty food
• Harvest fully mature
– Local production/farmers’ markets
– Just-in-time supply
– Less refrigeration
Tasty food
• Ripeness indicators on packages
• Flavor/taste indicators?
Tasty food New ripening technologies
Molecular regulation of ripening
– Antisense ACC synthase
– Fruits ripened with ethylene on demand!
Quality is the Key
Which do you buy?
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Apples
• Peaches
• Apricots
Strawberry
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Apricots
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Blemish free food
• Better packaging
– Hammock pack for transporting ripened products
High quality food
• Robotic sorting –Color
–Defects
– Sugar content
– Flavor volatiles
• Cool sooner – In-line cooling
–Cool before pack
– Field cooling
Convenient to eat • No/easy peel
• Pre-cut
• Convenient portions
– small melons, large berries
• No seeds or tasty seeds
• Edible rinds or peels
Increased choice
Sustainability
• Economic
• Environmental
– Reduced, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and waste
• Social
– Worker/consumer health, safety, and quality of life
What do farmers want?
• Profit
• Profit = Market returns – Costs
• Costs (inputs)
– Labor
– Water
– Land
– Fertilizer
– Postharvest costs
• Packaging
Labor – a diminishing resource • Agriculture is labor intensive, hard, itinerant and
seasonal work – ag counties are poor counties
• More attractive incomes and working conditions in other sectors of the economy
• Increased concern about immigration
Machine systems for growing, harvesting and packing
Hortibot
Robots could assist in production
• Scouts and warriors
– Insects
– Diseases
– Fruit locations
– Maturity
– Freeze damage
Electronic sentries
• Chips in trees
– Monitor temperatures
– Water potential
– Nitrogen status
– Defense signals
Marketing
• Transport costs – Increased local production – CSA’s, Farmers’
markets,
– Shift from air and to rail/marine
• Marketing system – Concentration of wholesale and resale outlets
– Leapfrog for the developing world
• What about marketing of home produce – Electronic gardeners’ exchange
Underground freight systems
• Urban, Interurban, intercontinental?
• Pneumatic
• Maglev
Airships?
• Efficiency?
• Solar?
What will perishables marketing look like in 10 years?
So what will perishables marketing look like in 10 years?
• Service-oriented w/ high price produce – Convenience stores – Fast food stores – Institutional facilities - fresh fruit in school
vending machines • Entertainment-oriented w/ high price
produce – Farmers’ markets – Specialty produce store – Grocery store as theater
• Volume sales of low-price produce – Wal-Mart model – Club stores (Costco)
So what will perishables marketing look like in 10 years?
• Webmarkets – Convenience, 24 hour shopping
– Personal relationship and quality produce will drive • CSA-like
– Refrigerated ‘slot’ in the home
Produce handling is information intensive
• Optimal handling – Product
– Variety
– Production area
– Season
– Cultural practices
– Marketing chain
• New information technologies will transform quality management
• Precision Temperature Management
– Store very close to freezing or chilling temperature
• Time/temperature indicators
Information technology for perishables
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R2 = 0.998
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Temperature (F)
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)
• Active RFID technology
– Temperature
–Humidity
–CO2 & O2
IT for perishables
• Shelf life modeling
IT for perishables
Insert graph of flower life
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% Vaselife
Future research imperatives
• Robotic harvest
• Chilling injury
– Cause, Solution
• Just in time supply chain
• Effect of temperature on flavor
• Fresh cut fruits with flavor
• Application of molecular biology
– Controlled ripening
– Improved nutrition/flavor
• Internal quality analysis
• Online pathogen & quality monitoring
• Microbial ‘kill’ process
• Reduce food waste
Thanks for participating in the shortcourse!