It's no longer possible to harvest fruit randomly or based on experience, because it's increasingly difficult to find specialized, expert labor. For over 35 years, TR Turoni has been developing tools to monitor ripeness. Its DA Meter is an essential tool to determine the best moment to harvest top and stone fruit.
The tool was launched on the market 10 years ago and is now widely used in Europe and in markets such as Canada, United States, South America and Oceania.
It has proven particularly valuable for apples and pears, also to manage cold storage.
"DA Meters measure the level of chlorophyll under the peel, which is related to the ripening level of the fruit. Traditional methods involve a series of (destructive) analyses. Samples are taken from 10-20 fruits," explains Enrico Turroni.
"These analyses take time, as fruits need to be taken to the lab to measure parameters such as acidity or starch content. In addition, there's the time that passes from when the sample is taken to when results are ready. This of course also means any intervention is delayed in relation to the data collected."
The tool can be used on many apple and pear varieties when harvesting and during cold storage. It is very effective also for nurseries and the development of new varieties as often there are not many fruits available, so the possibility of carrying out traditional analyses is limited. As fruits remain on trees with this kind of analysis, the same fruit can be observed over various weeks.
The company is also developing non-destructive systems to analyse hardness levels, a very important parameter, mainly towards the end of the chain from the end of cold storage to display in stores.
Contacts:
T.R. Turoni srl
Via Copernico 26 - 47122 Forlì – Italy
Tel. +39 0543 724848
Email info@trturoni.com
Web: www.trturoni.com