Release date: 4/25/2010
University of California Davis Releases 2010 Pallet Cover Comparison Study Summary.
The University of California, Davis, Department of Plant Sciences, in cooperation with the University of Florida, Gainesville, Horticultural Sciences Department, released a new summary of findings comparing various pallet cover systems used during the transit of fresh strawberries from California to Florida and Georgia during the 2010 production season.
Results concluded that maintaining elevated CO2 levels around fruit significantly reduced decay even at the relatively low shipping temperatures (during transit). After a 3 to 4 day transit period, when averaged across the three shipments, the incidence of fruit decay was low (0.4-0.9%) immediately after transport, but increased after a 2-day shelf life at 68°F. “Albion” strawberries treated with elevated CO2 levels (Tectrol) had a small but significantly lower percentages of decay then strawberries shipped with no pallet covering (Control) as set forth in Figure 1 of the Study. Similarly, after a simulated distribution and shelf life period of 2 days at 68°F, elevated CO2 treated (Tectrol) strawberries had 8% less decay incidence then the no pallet covering treatment, and 4-10% less decay incidence then strawberries treated with other pallet coverings where CO2 levels were not elevated during transit.
A downloadable copy of the entire summary can be found here.