The Valencian company Citrosol has launched the new tomato washing product Citrocide Plus T, which arrives just after a pepper washing system and aims to change the concept of rot control in the post-harvest.
This was announced by the company in a statement, in which it assures that the new system achieves a share of control efficiency of up to 100%.
It is a comprehensive system for the washing of tomatoes with which the washer becomes a critical control point to ensure food safety.
In 2013, Citrosol introduced its new pepper washing system, Citrocide PC P, and now, the Valencian company specialised in post-harvest technologies has developed a product oriented to tomatoes in order to become "a strategic ally for vegetable marketing companies, especially Spanish exporters, who are facing increasingly stricter requirements from their customers in terms of quality and food safety."
"With our comprehensive system for the washing of tomatoes, we guarantee the food safety of this vegetable," stressed the CEO of Citrosol, Benito Orihuel, who explained that the system also makes it possible to "control rot in the post-harvest and reduce water consumption in the washing machine."
Before launching this product to the market, Citrosol has conducted trials to evaluate its effectiveness, and has concluded that not washing the tomato is not an option, nor is it doing this with water.
According to the study, at a temperature of 10 degrees, with a relative humidity of 85% and after 6 days of storage, 8.3% of the tubs of cherry tomatoes which had been washed with water had one or more rotten fruits, while at that same temperature, the tubs washed with Citrocide Plus T showed no rot at all.
This effectiveness was achieved again in periods of 9 and 13 days, "and with Citrocide Plus T, the percentage remained at 0%; results that truly make the difference," added Orihuel.
Citrosol's product aims to turn the washer into "a barrier; a firewall" that prevents cross-contamination, while minimising surface contamination and ensuring the product's safety."
Thus, it acts by disposing of all kinds of microorganisms, both those that cause tomato rot as well as those that are potentially dangerous pathogens to health, reducing or even eliminating microbiological contamination on the surface of the tomatoes, in the water for washing and in the washing machine.
The Citrocide Plus T system also saves water in the washing process, as it keeps it free of any microorganisms at all times, thus allowing for its safe recycling.
Also, the system is equipped with a computer program that allows you to "register and transfer the relevant information of the dosing and control process, ensuring a detailed traceability of the same."
Along with the product itself, Citrosol offers horticultural firms a verification, calibration and on-going maintenance service to guarantee the good functioning of this revolutionary system.
Source: EFE