EFFICACY OF SMARTFRESH(SM) APPLICATIONS TO PALLETISED CARTONS OF APPLES

The commercial application of SmartFreshSM to apples has increased significantly over the last five years and is now a recognised technology in the South African deciduous fruit industry and worldwide. While the cost of treating fruit in bins is comparable to controlled atmosphere storage and some advanced MAP technologies, ways in which to become more cost effective in the use of SmartFreshSM are always under the spotlight. The question has frequently been asked whether or not SmartFreshSM can be applied to packed apples for two main reasons, first, to lower application cost of treating fruit not destined for export, and second, to facilitate treatment in the transit chain. On occasion, where packed fruit require extended storage, a second re-treatment may be required and fruit in this instance may be in packed palletised cartons.