Farmers put UC research to use

An article on the front page of the Fresno Bee business section today informs consumers they can return "Ripe 'N Ready" tree fruit to the company if it isn't to their liking. That's how confident the company is that their fruit will be delicious and ready to eat.

The article unfortunately doesn't go into how the company is able to make such a promise to consumers. In fact, much credit goes to UC Davis post harvest physiologist Carlos Crisosto, who is based at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center near Parlier. As reported in a 2005 UC ANR press release, a decade of research in the state-of-the-art Gordon F. Mitchell Postharvest Laboratory revealed that conventional wisdom about stone fruit -- harvest and immediately refrigerate -- was not the best way to ensure good tasting fruit.

Crisosto discovered that the practice was subjecting fruit to what he calls the “killing temperature zone.” He found that, in general, if the fruit is held at 68 degrees for about two days following harvest, until it reaches a specific level of ripening measured by fruit firmness, and then cooled down, shelf life can be extended seven to 15 days and, most importantly, the fruit would be more consistently pleasing when it reached consumers’ mouths.

“This has rocked our world,” the sales manager for Mountain View Fruit in Reedley is quoted in the release. “For us to pick our fruit and delay the cooling, fiddle around with humidity, pressure and brix, then ship it two, three or four days later, ready to eat – that is totally opposite to what we had been doing.”

Post harvest research at the Kearney REC continues. On Friday, the media are invited to attend the dedication of a brand new sensory lab at the center, which will give scientists at Kearney the tools and environment they need to conduct experiments on the effect of a variety of practices on the fruit eating experience.

The new sensory lab at Kearney.

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