Fruit maturity assessment technologies for the avocado, mango and kiwi industries will make the process easier than ever before will be highlighted at the Fruit Logistica in Berlin, February 5-7.
The Pacific Northwest-based tech innovator will showcase its new suite of Near Infrared (NIR) Quality Meters for avocado, mango and kiwi, as well as its range of hand-held ripening room gas analyzers.
With a deep 30-year history engineering plant physiology instruments for universities and government-funded research programs, Felix Instruments designs and manufactures gas analysis and NIR assessment tools.
With a simple push of a button, Felix’s NIR spectroscopy meters measure dry matter, Brix, and titratable acidity, in addition to external and internal color of fruits. The measurements are non-destructive and rapid, so many measurements can be taken – giving far more accurate assessments than more traditional methods.
F-750 Produce Quality Meter is useful for a wide range of fruits and vegetables.
F-751 Avocado Quality Meter uses dry matter measurement as a measure of maturity and is tuned specifically for Hass avocados.
F-751 Mango Quality Meter works along the same principles as the Produce Quality Meter but is tuned for popular varieties of mangoes.
F-751 Kiwi Quality Meter is Felix’s newest instrument and is customized for varieties of kiwi and due for release early this year.
NIR Quality Meters are highly portable, meaning they can be used in multiple fields and the data collected is automatically populated into a database and visualized with Felix’s proprietary crop mapping software, FruitMaps.
Felix’s devices work in the field in variable weather conditions. "Our NIR instruments enable organizations at both ends of the agricultural spectrum – breeders and growers on one end and distributors and retailers at the other, to non-destructively measure the quality of their fruit," said Felix's Marketing Director Scott Trimble.
He added: "These tools can gain snippets of data in seconds compared to traditional methods of using many workers, associated lab equipment and several days of analysis."
For growers, the meters not only offer straight cost savings in the workforce and the elimination of destroyed fruit, but in addition, their use reduces guesswork and provides more data. Measuring more fruit, more often helps them make better decisions at harvest.
For breeders, NIR can help better determine how different applications of nutrients or herbicide affect fruit quality. For distributors, exporters and importers, NIR gives more visibility into the quality of the outgoing and incoming product, laying the groundwork for better decision making and cost-savings.
Trimble noted: "Thanks to some very clever problem solving from our engineering team, our instruments have overcome this hurdle and can deliver accurate measurements in the field, in normal weather conditions, where no others can."
See Felix Instruments in action at Fruit Logistica, in the booth of Fresh Produce Instruments, Hall 1.2 D12.
For more information: 
Scott Trimble
Felix Instruments
Tel: +1 (360) 833-8835
Email: strimble@felixinstruments.com
www.felixinstruments.com