Data and indicators

The catalog provided by Cicytex, which seeks to help fruit companies and centers establishing harvest rates in the fruit, includes a set of files with data obtained in different cultivars of plums, nectarines, peaches and cherries from Las Vegas del Guadiana and El Valle. of the Jerte.

This information has been collected at different times of ripening depending on the commercial destination of the fruit (export with long transit periods, third countries and the national market, and ripened on the tree for local consumption), as detailed by the Board in a press release .

Along with the indicators of the conventional quality parameters (weight, size, color, firmness, among others) are added the maturity indices that have been obtained with the rapid technologies used.

Meters

They are average values ​​collected during a study period that includes, depending on the case, from two to five years, and which can be indicative in the handling of these tools, taking into account the weather and the altitude of the terrain.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of technologies available on the market and to obtain the values ​​and indicators that allow them to be adapted to the measurements of quality parameters of each type of fruit (weight, size, firmness, skin color, acidity and ethylene production, related to ripening).

Technology and speed

They are techniques, based on what is called visible and NIR (infrared) spectroscopy, which have a series of advantages over traditional ones: their speed, it is not necessary to destroy the batches in which the ripening control is carried out.

Likewise, it does not depend on the climatic conditions, nor on the skill of the operating personnel to evaluate parameters such as the color, size or firmness of the fruit. This work called "Non-destructive technologies in the field and fruit and vegetable center" has been coordinated by Belén Velardo Micharet, from Cicytex's Postharvest area.

Cooperation and innovation

The Extremadura Fair Institution (Feval) and the Centro de Apoio Tecnológico Agro-Alimentar Cataa, from Portugal, have also participated in the coordination.

It is a task included in the Innoace cross-border cooperation project, which includes a set of tasks, studies and innovative proposals and in which 14 research centers in Extremadura, Spain, and the Centro and Alentejo regions of Portugal participate.

It is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (Feder) through the Interreg VA Spain-Portugal Program (Poctep) 2014-2020.