Photo Friday: Gas Analysis in Ghana – Helping Farmers Avoid Postharvest Losses

“Working in a remote area of Ghana, access to a versatile Portable Ethylene Gas Analyzer provided a great improvement in quality and variety of data generated in a study on shelf-life characteristics of 10 sweet potato genotypes in northern Ghana. Currently, final draft of the research is being processed. A conference paper with title “Effect… Continue reading…

INTERVIEW: Spectroscopy and Solanaceae – Rapid Phenotyping of Nightshades

Alberto De Marcos and his team at Semillas Fitó are exploring the use of NIRS to breed better varieties of seven solanaceae (nightshade) and cucurbit (gourd) crops: tomato, pepper, eggplant, melon, watermelon, zucchini, and cucumber. In our most recent interview, Application Scientist Galen George sits down with Alberto to chat about his plans to integrate… Continue reading…

Detecting Fungal Disease in the Fresh Produce Supply Chain

Ethylene produced by many fungi can cause disease in perishable fresh produce. Scientists found that this phytohormone can be used as a marker in non-destructive diagnosis for fruit disease detection of post-harvest fruits. A portable gas analyzer was used in an experiment to measure fungal ethylene in real-time. The findings from the experiment could help… Continue reading…

Measuring Maturity of Unopened Cotton Bolls with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Scientists used the portable F-750 Produce Quality Meter, an industry-standard, to test if NIR Spectroscopy can be useful in measuring the maturity of unopened cotton bolls. This was part of a series of experiments to explore a novel application of NIRS, with the potential to increase cotton yield per acre. Setting Single Harvest Date for… Continue reading…