Kiwifruit testing device from Korea
It’s the no-pick way to test a fruit’s ripeness and its inventors are at Fieldays.
Orchard farmers no longer need to pick fruit off vines and trees to test how ready they are.
Korean company Sunforest has come to the Fieldays innovation centre to show off its portable testing device.
Company director Jay Hwang said that the device has been in the works for a number of years and they have been working both in Asia and Europe to gather research data for it.
“We have been testing the device through the last three harvesting seasons. We have gathered a lot of data to build up a database, and it is almost ready to be launched into the market.”
The device uses a spectrometer that can measure the sweetness and the dry matter of the fruit.
The device comes in three different varieties, each for different fruit and is non-destructive which means that samples no longer need to be picked from the trees or vines.
He says there is a useful compatibility between the portable device and a farmers’ own orchard map.
“You can make an interface between the device and your smart phone. (It Scans fruit) and you can instantly see the metadata instantly displayed on your orchard map.”
This helps to map exactly where each tree or vine is at in terms or ripeness and lets the farmers plan accordingly.
The device can be used before picking the fruit, during packaging to ensure they are still ripe as well as in agricultural labs for rapid analysis of large quantities.
Mathew Wayne, a farmer from Huntly, said that he would have jumped at the opportunity this device provides if he was still running an orchard.
“Unfortunately, I work with cows now and you can’t exactly measure how ripe they are.”
