Latest uncategorized

Fixed leaf image

Empowering Small-Scale Farmers: The Avocado Society of Kenya’s Innovative Approaches

The Avocado Society of Kenya is the leading association for avocado growers, exporters, and other key players in the industry. They strive to promote efficiency and organized marketing to ensure long-term profitability for avocado agribusiness in Kenya. Their vision is to take a leading role in creating a sustainable and profitable avocado industry. The society… Continue reading…

Precision Techniques can make Horticulture Sustainable

Precision horticulture can increase yields with fewer inputs.  These techniques optimize growing conditions by improving decision-making based on analyzed data to maximize fresh produce quality and yield.  Monitoring quality in all stages is crucial for horticulture crops.  Precision horticulture techniques are suitable for outdoor and indoor farms.  Precision horticulture is becoming attractive as it reduces… Continue reading…

Improving Avocado Quality

Quality avocados must be safe for consumption and satisfy consumer preferences like appearance and taste.   Dry matter content is crucial in estimating maturity, storage, and transport conditions, ripening duration, oil content, and consumer satisfaction.  Management during the production and postharvest stages is crucial to meet consumer preferences for avocados.  Avocados of different qualities can be… Continue reading…

How Warmer Nights Change Dry Matter Accumulation in Apples

Dry matter is the total of all solids in fruit, starch, sugars, lipids, pigments, acids, etc. We know farm management practices can influence dry matter accumulation in apples. There are also regional dissimilarities due to weather and soil differences. New findings indicate nocturnal temperature variations can also change dry matter. So how would dry matter accumulation… Continue reading…

Over image of NIR scanner: NIR in Agriculture 2023

NIR Applications in Agriculture – Everything You Need to Know for 2023

A Guide to NIR Applications in Agriculture for 2023   Explore the “what,” “why,” and “how” of NIR spectroscopy in agriculture. From quality control to sustainable farming, breeding programs to disease detection, dive into all your questions about NIR as we look toward 2023 and beyond.   Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy using data collected by scanners… Continue reading…

Male worker using digital tablet while checking shipment of watermelons in warehouse.

Guide to Fresh Fruit Quality Control

Quality control is essential because fruits are perishable and delicate and can be affected by handling, storage conditions, weather, pests and diseases, internal changes, and genetics. Accurate fruit quality assessment is critical on the farm, as well as during packaging, storage, transport, artificial ripening, retailing, and research. Internal fruit quality, ripening gas analysis in storage… Continue reading…

Sweet peppers growing on the vine

Ethylene Measurement and Postharvest Pepper Storage Quality

Peppers, a popular vegetable, are rich in phytochemicals with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Peppers are also a source of red pigment capsicum, a high-quality food and textile dye. To serve their purpose, peppers need suitable postharvest treatment, storage, and packaging to maintain their quality. Factors Affecting Pepper Quality Peppers are harvested and eaten at… Continue reading…

Reducing Food Waste with NIRS

One way of increasing global food security is by reducing food loss throughout the supply chain. According to new estimates, about forty percent of food goes to waste, of which 50% is lost on farms. While consumers have some part to play in tackling food waste, farm and retail food loss must collectively be addressed… Continue reading…

Downloads for F-900 Portable

F-900 Software & Firmware Downloads Software The “F-900 Package Setup” installs the latest versions of the Firmware Update Tool and F-900 Controller. More information about these two programs can be found below.   Firmware Update Tool Allows for installation of the newest firmware releases onto F-900 units. The latest firmware version can be downloaded below.… Continue reading…

NIR Spectroscopy to Assess Food Adulteration in UBF

Unripe banana flour (UBF), also called green banana flour, has the potential to increase food and nutrition security because of its many health benefits. However, standards to control and regulate food safety and technologies that can be used for quality control of this lucrative product are missing in many countries, allowing adulteration with cheaper and… Continue reading…