Every fruit has a particular shelf life. Accordingly, it is fresh and tasty. The shape, sturdiness, aroma, and shine remains intact if the fruit is fresh but sometimes loses it freshness due to the long supply chain. Similar is the case with the Apricot. In India, it comes from Kashmir and globally Italy produces good quality apricot. The shelf life is only 1 to 3 days and in refrigerators, the shelf life increases to 7-8 days.
Apricots are a very delicate fruit that will last only a few days on the counter after being picked. Actually, the shelf life of apricots depends on when they were picked and how they are stored. Apricots come in different varieties, like most fruits, with our favorite being the Blenheim. It's generally a little smaller than other varieties but packed with flavor. As apricot production and export increase, demands for practical methods of post-harvest quality retention are necessary to improve the post-harvest quality of apricots during cold storage and shelf-life.
Hazel Technologies, Inc., is proud to announce the successful completion of an apricot supply chain quality trial with the Postharvest Technology Center at the University of California, Davis. Researchers found that Hazel® Apricot technology extends the shelf life of apricots in standard supply chain conditions. Hazel® Apricot is an in-box sachet which slows the ripening process by using Hazel’s patented technology for inhibiting the action of ethylene, the company said.
“We are extremely pleased to report that UC Davis researchers saw significant increases in apricot firmness, even after release from 20 days in cold storage,” said Adam Preslar, Co-founder and CTO of Hazel Technologies. “Stone fruits have their own unique challenges in the fresh supply chain and we are thrilled to offer the apricot and larger stone-fruit industry a technology that can help growers and shippers provide top-quality fruit to the market. We look forward to partnering with UC Davis on more stone fruit trials.”
The trial was conducted on late-season Patterson apricots grown by Gilbert Orchards near Yakima, Washington and shipped to California. Hazel Apricot was applied at packing and stayed with the packed apricots throughout the standard cold-chain. The apricots were then stored in retail conditions at UC Davis and periodically assessed by their team of researchers for firmness.
“In our trials, we were able to show conclusively that apricot firmness was preserved by approximately 30-50 percent in apricots subjected to retail conditions when Hazel® Apricot was used in the supply chain. Furthermore, there is some indication that skin reddening and red spotting can be reduced in the mature fruit when Hazel® Apricot is applied,” adds Dr. Angelos Deltsidis, Associate Director of the Postharvest Technology Center at UC Davis. “Our research center is committed to finding new postharvest solutions for crops with challenging shelf life, and we are pleased to be working with Hazel on this interesting addition to apricot shelf life technology.”
Hazel said its post-harvest solutions are being adopted across the stone fruit industry, not just with apricots. Two large producers, Orchard View and Sun West Fruit, reported positive results using Hazel® Technology earlier this year.
