Complementary technologies for plums and other stone fruits

For the past several seasons, a large volume of Chilean D'Agen plums have been successfully exported to the Chinese market. To do so, the fruit must meet a number of key parameters, such as firmness, taste and fruit color to satisfy the high demands of oriental consumers. Not long ago, this variety was shipped 100% dehydrated, so when it began to be sold fresh, there was a total lack of knowledge about the quality parameters, optimum conditions for export and the required packaging. For the last three seasons, PACLIFE has been studying the behavior of this plum, making different combinations and suggestions to determine the optimal packaging. Harvest ripeness recommendations:    -Firmness: 8 to 10 lb average, individual range of 6 to 12 lbs (> 6 LB OR >470 FIRM PRO).    -Titratable acidity: greater than 0.8    -TSS: over 18 °Brix or according to market requirements    -Color: >50 % target color The D'Agen plum variety is very sensitive to softening, so very specific packaging technologies are required. In this sense, Paclife offers several special modified atmosphere packs for D'agen and Envase Fresh Cooling, depending on different postharvest parameters and fruit color. Paclife has also developed different strategies to reduce dehydration and maintain firmness from the field to the warehouse. This is the case of the Harvestech hoods that, thanks to their patented technology, quickly increase the relative humidity inside the cover, without increasing the temperature and protecting the fruit from water loss. This allows the plum to arrive at the conditioning plant with the highest quality and is ready for packing and shipping. Paclife has specialized tools for each species and variety, where the D'agen plum has not been left behind and is already included in its range of products.