AgroFresh adds 3 post-harvest freshness products for apples

AgroFresh Solutions Inc. has added three new products to its Apple Complete portfolio. OMRI-certified CeraFruta and Teycer Originals Prime Elite join Textar DPA as the latest products in its lineup of post-harvest solutions for the U.S. apple industry.

The global agtech innovator provides produce freshness solutions and digital technologies that enhance the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh produce, according to a news release.

The new products include, according to the release:

• CeraFruta, a bio-fungicide approved for organic use, has proven efficacy against a broad spectrum of post-harvest fruit decays thanks to its unique, patented formulation of Natamycin, a naturally occurring molecule derived from soil bacteria with a unique mode of action. The product has been used within the food industry for four decades with no known cases of resistance.
• Teycer Originals Prime Elite is a new apple coating approved for organic use that helps apples stay more firm, smooth and shiny compared to conventional coatings. The coating integrity remains smooth, without significant whitening, contact-point issues or notable loss of gloss regardless of dilution rate.
• Textar DPA is a trusted scald and carbon dioxide injury inhibitor containing 40% Diphenylamine. Its formulation can be used both for fogging and drenching. For fogging, it is applied using the AgroFresh ActiMist technology. Textar DPA can simultaneously be applied with SmartFresh for fast, controlled-atmosphere establishment to avoid excess of carbon dioxide.

AgroFresh Apple Complete is a comprehensive portfolio of near- and post-harvest ethylene management solutions, as well as fungicides, coatings, sanitizers, and digital monitoring and analytics platforms. This portfolio includes AgroFresh’s SmartFresh Quality System — an ethylene management solution — and Harvista 1.3 SC, the only field application of 1-MCP available in the market, according to the release. 

“At AgroFresh, our team of innovators is always working to develop new solutions to improve the produce system and reduce food loss,” Sarah Enescu, AgroFresh commercial business director North America, said in the release. “We’ve been supporting the apple industry for more than 20 years with innovative and revolutionary solutions starting with our SmartFresh (1-MCP) technology. Today, our Apple Complete portfolio supports the apple industry from end to end with unparalleled customer support to make our industry both more sustainable and efficient.”

"Maximizing packouts for the growers and making sure we have a high-quality product for consumers is of highest importance," Allan Bros. Fruit’s Matt Miles said in the release. “Using tools in the industry, we can get the right product to the consumer at the right time, ensuring the best quality, taste and texture, providing value to the end customer — retailer or consumer.

"I think it's safe to say that 1-MCP being brought to the market and AgroFresh having a huge hand in bringing that in commercially is one of the single biggest things to happen to the industry in the last 20 years from a conventional fruit perspective,” Miles continued. “It's massive and key as far as ethylene management goes for maintaining firmness of fruit."

AgroFresh commercialized the SmartFresh (1-MCP) technology that began in 2003 with the application on apples. In the last 20 years, it has expanded for use in multiple crops, including pears, blueberries, cherries, avocados and stone fruit, as well as new applications in field, storage and transit, such as field spray application and convenient sachets.

The company says its focus on quality and freshness has driven the advancement of its solutions portfolio beyond ethylene management to include fungicides, coatings and digital platforms, including FreshCloud for quality inspection and in-room wireless monitoring with the Strella sensor.  

To learn more about these new additions and the full Apple Complete portfolio, sign up to view AgroFresh’s recent “Quality & Freshness MasterClass” webinar on Apple Complete and visit the Apple Complete page.