Food science articles
WEBINAR: Avocados, Now with AI: How AI and Customer Feedback Just Made the Avocado Quality Meter More Accurate and Far Easier to Use
The next-generation Felix Avocado Meter is here, and this webinar gives a full look at what makes it different. In this session, Galen George, Director of Applied Science, explains how AI and customer feedback helped shape a more accurate, easier-to-use approach to avocado dry matter analysis. From stronger performance across maturity stages to a refreshed… Continue reading…
How NIR Technology Supports the Circular Economy in Agriculture
Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy-based technology makes food production circular by improving process efficiency from farm to retailer. NIR technology helps design waste reduction at critical points in the food supply chain by providing non-destructive, real-time data on the external and internal quality of food. Monitoring crops with NIR enhances food value by ensuring the safety, nutrition,… Continue reading…
Truth About Calibration: Why Factory Settings Aren’t Forever
When you first power on a new instrument, it is easy to assume the factory settings will hold steady for years. In reality, gas analyzer calibration is not a one time event. It is an ongoing process that directly affects data integrity, storage decisions, and ultimately profitability. In postharvest environments where small shifts in oxygen,… Continue reading…
Myth: You Can Tell Ripeness by Color Alone
In produce operations, the idea that you can determine fruit ripeness by color alone is persistent. It sounds practical. Walk a field or a packing line, look for the right shade, and make a decision. But when fruit ripeness testing becomes critical to quality control, color quickly shows its limits. If you rely on visual… Continue reading…
Truth About Portable Gas Sensors in Cold Storage: Condensation Isn’t Harmless
Cold storage environments are tough on equipment. Anyone who has worked in produce storage rooms, ripening facilities, or distribution centers knows that temperature swings and high humidity are part of the job. Portable gas sensors for cold storage are often treated as rugged tools that can handle it all. But there is one factor that… Continue reading…
Myth: NIR Devices Work the Same on All Cultivars
Near-infrared fruit analysis is widely used across the produce industry, but a persistent myth still circulates: that one NIR model works the same on every cultivar. The truth is that cultivar differences directly impact NIR calibration accuracy, and ignoring that reality leads to inconsistent data and poor decisions. If you rely on NIR devices for… Continue reading…
Truth About Multi-Gas Monitors: When Extra Sensors Add Noise
The conversation around multi-gas monitors often centers on one assumption: more sensors equal better data. In controlled atmosphere storage, ripening rooms, and produce research, that sounds reasonable. But in practice, multi-gas monitors can introduce complexity, cross-interference, and calibration drift that compromise accuracy. When extra sensors add noise instead of clarity, the result is slower decisions… Continue reading…
Myth: Data Logging Is Optional—It’s Not if You Want Compliance
In food storage, ripening, and controlled atmosphere management, there is a persistent myth that data logging is optional. Teams often assume that if they can spot check gas levels with a handheld unit, that is enough. It is not. If you care about gas analyzer compliance, continuous and reliable data logging is part of the… Continue reading…
Truth About F-Series Devices and Reference Methods: What Correlation Really Means
When people talk about correlation in the context of a produce quality meter, the conversation often gets simplified. A device is tested against a lab reference method. A number comes back. If it is high, the instrument is considered accurate. If it is lower, doubts start to creep in. But correlation is more nuanced than… Continue reading…
Myth: Ripening Control Is Just About Ethylene
Ripening control is often reduced to a single variable: ethylene. In reality, effective ripening control depends on a coordinated understanding of ethylene, oxygen, carbon dioxide, temperature, and commodity-specific physiology. Focusing on only one gas oversimplifies postharvest management and leaves room for quality loss, uneven ripening, and reduced shelf life. For growers, packers, storage operators, and… Continue reading…
