Food and water preservation and purification specialist Purfresh has announced that a number of fresh produce growers across the world are now reaping the benefits of its Purshade protection technology.
According to the group, the implementation of Purshade, which is designed to protect crops from solar damage, is helping growers to greatly reduce costly losses, while in turn maximising returns.
Widely recognised as a leading cause of product cullage, sunburn and heat stress is responsible for losses ranging from 15-50 per cent depending on the crop and seasonal conditions, but results from research studies and field trials in the US, Australia, Chile and Thailand have shown that Purfresh cuts losses and can actually improve quality and yield.
'Solar damage can cut deep into a grower's profit, so prevention is critical,' said Dave Cheetham, R&D and technical marketing manager for Helena Chemical Company. 'But to be used, the product has to offer an ROI and be easy to incorporate into an existing crop management programme.
'In the trials we've performed using Purshade, we've seen significant reductions in sun damage which translates directly into improved returns, and we've been impressed with the product's ease of use,' he added. 'Purshade offers excellent coverage, is easy to handle, mix, apply and remove, and can be sprayed with other crop protectants, which saves growers time and money.'
Purshade is a calcium-based protectant engineered with patent-pending Advanced Reflectance Technology, which reflects harmful wavelengths of solar radiation such as ultraviolet and infrared while allowing enough sunlight for photosynthesis.
Products included in extensive research included oranges and lemons in Chile, which showed an 11 per cent and 8 per cent reduction in sunburn respectively compared with untreated trees, Thai pineapples (a 207 per cent increase in yield compared with untreated fruit), and Australian tomatoes, which recorded a reduced cullage of 50 per cent.
'Producers around the globe are faced with increased pressure to maximise production of every acre they plant, so it is not surprising to report that demand for our Purshade solar protectants continues to increase exponentially,' said Tom Justmann, general manager, plant health group for Purfresh. 'Commercially available in more than 12 countries and proven effective by researchers and growers alike, Purshade is now recognised around the world as a key contributor to optimising the value of a crop.'
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