The February 25 and 26, 2010 Fruit Ripening & Ethylene Management workshop at the University of California’s Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier, California still has a few spaces open. The workshop focuses on how to increase profits by delivering ready-to-eat, delicious fruits and fruit-vegetables to the consumer and is intended for shippers and handlers involved in ripening. The two-day workshop is open for registration at http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Announce/fruitripening.shtml.
Carlos Crisosto, faculty director of the course, has over 20 years of experience as an extension specialist, with expertise in the postharvest biology and technology of fresh fruits. “This year, because the course has many central California grower-shipper attendees, breakout sessions will be especially current and dynamic,” said Carlos. “We have people who have been involved in the fruit and vegetable industry for many years attending this course because of the earlier timeframe—I am looking forward to the hands-on dialogue and sharing of commodity-specific techniques during our various sessions.”
Topics will include retail ripening programs; maturity, ripening and quality relationships; biology of ethylene production and action; ripening facilities and equipment; temperature management; maturity; ethylene treatments, inhibition and control; packaging; problem diagnosis and the future of ripening. Based on its success last year, we will again have breakout demonstrations by topic. Participants will form small groups by interest, and design and present ripening programs for discussion and evaluation.
Attendees may register for this and other upcoming educational outreach activities sponsored by the Postharvest Technology Research & Information Center via their website at http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu or by contacting Ms. Pam Devine, registration coordinator, at (530) 754-4326 or pwdevine@ucdavis.edu.
Specialists in the field of Postharvest Technology gathered from twelve countries to discuss their findings over the past year’s study of postharvest losses for horticultural crops. After comparing notes on results to date from the Appropriate Postharvest Technology Planning Project, they broke into four teams focused on developing long-range, high-impact projects. Two teams focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, and two on South Asia.
Drs. Marita Cantwell, Beth Mitcham, Diane Barrett, Michael Reid, Adel Kader, and Jim Thompson from the Postharvest Technology Center played active roles, in conjunction with the project leader, Dr. Lisa Kitinoja, of the World Food Logistics Organization, and Drs. Paul Marcotte and Mark Bell from the University of California’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences’ International Programs Office. Attendees included representatives from AVRDC, IITA, Amity University, KIST, Tamale PolyTechnic, ZEGA, DAI, Fintrac and ACDI/VOCA.
As this is written, the participants in the Fresh-cut Products: Maintaining Quality & Storage Workshop are engaged in a very dynamic and interactive sensory demonstration about Fresh-cut Products’ Shelf-life. Using all their senses, participants visit tables of various products, and try to guess the length of storage, controlled atmospheres used (if any), and temperature of storage. It can be surprising what a degree’s or a day’s difference can make. Dr. Marita Cantwell, workshop coordinator, is already talking about several ideas she has about how to make the 2010 Fresh-cut Workshop even better.
Next week, September 1st and 2nd, we will be hosting a dynamic and interactive workshop taking a look at the use of irradiation on fresh produce and cut flowers. The workshop will bring together leaders in food irradiation, agriculture, and regulators to describe the benefits and drawbacks of irradiation for U.S. exporters of perishable commodities. This workshop has been partially underwritten through a USDA grant, and also by the PMA, and will bring together leaders in the food irradiation industry and agricultural industry to discuss technical information, from both a regulatory and industry perspective, on the benefits and drawbacks this technology can offer to the U.S. exporting agricultural sector for perishable commodities. Use this link for additional information, or you may register on-line to attend this campus-based workshop.
University of California's Postharvest Technology Research & Information Center's Christine Bruhn and Jim Gorny were featured experts in an article about Grilling, Fresh Produce, and Kitchen food safety tips which appeared in today's Sacramento Bee. Some food safety tips excerpted from the article:
GRILLING
Here are some tips from Bruhn to keep in mind during your cookouts, she knows it doesn't take much undercooked ground beef to make a person seriously sick:
• Be careful of cross-contamination: "Some people use the same plate to carry both the raw and cooked (food). People might rinse the plate, but those bacteria are still there. Water is not enough. You need a clean plate."
Same goes for that burger-flipping spatula. Don't risk using it to load raw burgers – and then to remove the cooked ones. Either keep two handy or thoroughly clean the one that has touched the raw meat.
• Don't use color as a guideline for doneness: "Many believe that meat is done when it turns brown. Color is not an adequate indicator of the thoroughness of cooking. One out of four burgers turn brown before they reach 160 degrees, which is the recommended temperature."
• Invest in a cooking thermometer and use it: "Most people don't want to take the temperature of a hamburger because they think it's too much work. My graduate student is doing a project watching people prepare burgers, and none of them used a thermometer. They say, 'Oh, it's ready,' but a third of the burgers had not reached the proper temperature."
• Rare steak is OK, but make sure the meat's surface is seared: "Steak is different than ground beef. With steak, the bacteria is on the surface and on the edges. So if you just sear it, you're (killing) the bacteria. With ground beef, since it's all ground and mixed up, what used to be on the surface is now on the inside."
• Eat charred food in moderation: "Grilled veggies are so yummy and you get some of those burnt parts that taste so good. But eating too much charred food is bad. Some chemicals, eaten in sufficient quantities, can be carcinogenic. That's still eating it a lot, every day. A little charring on burgers is OK. The buildup will be low and you will naturally remove those toxins."
