USDA gives nod to Mexican dragonfruit, pomegranates

08/02/2011 1:34:22 PM
Tom Karst

Irradiated fresh pitaya — dragonfruit — and pomegranates from Mexico should be allowed into the U.S., according to a new pest risk assessment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The notice of a pest risk analysis for Mexican fresh pitaya and pomegranates was published in the Federal Register Aug. 2. Comments will be taken on the document until Oct. 3, according to the agency.

In the pest risk assessment, the USDA said fresh pitaya and pomegranates can be safely shipped to the U.S. if they are irradiated first. After taking comments on the pest risk assessment, the agency said it would announce its decision regarding the import status of the fresh pitaya and pomegranates in a later notice.

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Could you explain, what do you mean with irradiate first..?
What do i need to do.?

You would need to contact the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)/ Plant Pest Quarantine (PPQ) to determine the requirements for the Mexico to export fruits and vegetables into the U.S.. Typically Cobalt 60, a gamma radiation source treatment is used and in some cases treatment is needed prior to shipping or at the port your products are being shipped depending on the risk (i.e. you can only ship to ports with the equipment). A risk analysis is done to see the types of pests that can be hosted by the fruit and use the irradiator to kill the most radiation-resistant life-stage of the pest (i.e. larvae may require a higher dose than adults or the opposite may be true). Fruit flies usually require a lower amount of radiation than say a grain moth. Often times radiation can enhance shelf-life since it kills spoilage micro-organisms but too much radiation can damage the appearance/quality of the fruit so that commodity cannot be realistically imported as fresh fruit but may qualify as a processed puree or the like. Contact USDA/APHIS/PPQ for more information as requirements must be followed in order to ship to the U.S.A.

Gamma Irradiation using Cobalt-60 is a common method of treatment for various
fresh fruits and vegetables, typically a dose of 600 to 1000 Kilogray is given for most
fresh fruits.

My company - Symec Engineers (India) Pvt Ltd manufactures Gamma Irradiation
plants for treatment of food and medical products, If you would like more information,
you can visit our website at : www.symecengineers.com . We have literature and
videos of gamma Irradiation available that can help better understand the process.

Correction - 600 to 1000 Gray, not Kilogray.