Postharvest specialist presented advances in CATsystem, Citrocide Fresh-Cut and Greenfog-AS at Fruit Attraction
Citrosol presented new results and application experiences for CATsystem and its Citrocide Fresh-Cut System at Fruit Attraction, two of its solutions for controlling postharvest processes and ensuring food safety.
The company also showcased the latest developments in Greenfog-AS, a dry fumigant treatment that incorporates a new electronic ignition system to facilitate application and prevent the operator from being directly exposed at the start of the treatment.
“At this trade fair, we have continued to present and showcase the results obtained with CATsystem® It is a system that automatically measures and corrects the concentrations of fungicides and other additives in the treatment solution, keeping them within the target levels at all times,” said CEO Jorge Bretó.
According to Citrosol, maintaining stable concentrations helps preserve treatment effectiveness throughout the operation. It also helps prevent repeated exposure to sublethal concentrations, which can favour the selection of resistant populations and progressively reduce the effectiveness of fungicide programmes.
“CATsystem makes it possible to significantly reduce decay problems associated with variations in the concentrations of drencher solutions. By keeping the concentrations of fungicides, additives and processing aids constant, the conditions that may favour the emergence and selection of resistance are minimised,” Bretó explained.
The company said automatic control also provides greater stability and traceability in postharvest treatment, reduces reliance on manual adjustments and facilitates more consistent management of treatment solutions. It said the results presented at Fruit Attraction support the potential of CATsystem to improve treatment effectiveness and reduce decay-related losses during fruit storage and marketing.
Citrosol also presented progress with the Citrocide Fresh-Cut System, designed for the fresh-cut produce industry and increasingly being adopted in frozen fruit and vegetable processing facilities. In both cases, microbiological control of water and the washing process is essential to ensure food safety.
The system continuously monitors the process and automatically adjusts washing conditions to maintain the established parameters. This makes it possible to manage one of the sensitive stages of production more consistently, reduce the risk of cross-contamination and strengthen the food safety of the final product.
“Citrocide Fresh-Cut represents a major improvement in the washing process. It provides much greater control over disinfection and the production process as a whole, thereby improving food safety,” Bretó said.
In addition to improving process control, he said the system can help extend the commercial shelf-life of certain minimally processed products. More precise control during washing helps reduce the microbial load and support product preservation throughout distribution and marketing.
“We are seeing very good adoption of Citrocide Fresh-Cut, both in the fresh-cut sector and in the frozen fruit and vegetable market. For some minimally processed products, the system not only improves food safety but also allows us to extend their commercial shelf-life,” Bretó continued.
The company also highlighted that the process does not generate disinfection by-products, unlike chlorination-based disinfection treatments, which can present this drawback. In this way, it said Citrocide Fresh-Cut combines process control and food safety with the potential to improve the commercial shelf life of certain products, without generating the by-products associated with chlorine-based disinfection.
Another solution showcased by Citrosol was Greenfog-AS, a dry fumigant treatment whose main new feature is the addition of an electronic ignition system. This improvement allows the fumigant canister to be activated without requiring the operator to be directly exposed during the start of the treatment, making application easier and enhancing safety.
Greenfog-AS is particularly suitable for treating citrus fruit in cold storage rooms and containers. Its application distributes the treatment through the surrounding air without wetting or handling the fruit, a feature of interest for controlling various decay-causing pathogens.
“Greenfog-AS is an ideal tool for treating citrus fruit in storage rooms or containers and is delivering very good results in controlling stem-end mould and Cladosporium. The electronic ignition system also makes it possible to start the treatment without directly exposing the operator,” Bretó said.
The formulation is based on a compound associated with green chemistry and considered GRAS by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This characteristic extends the potential applications of Greenfog-AS beyond citrus fruit and opens up possibilities for controlling decay in other fruits and vegetables.
“Its composition and application method open up possibilities for other products. As a dry treatment, Greenfog-AS offers clear advantages for fruits and vegetables that do not tolerate aqueous treatments or for which adding moisture may be counterproductive,” Bretó concluded.
