Project

GreenCHAINge 1: Mango, beans, and grapes

Obtaining uniform, good-quality mangoes, beans, and grapes. It requires a better understanding of the cause of internal brown discoloration of mangoes and beans. That is the goal of this subproject.

Mangoes come from countries such as Brazil, Peru, or Africa, and grapes and beans are often imported from Africa. To be able to achieve good quality after a few weeks of sea transport, it is important to determine the correct conditions for transport and ripening. Products with external quality defects (discoloration or rot) can easily be detected and removed after sorting. Internal defects (internal browning or fungal growth) can only be detected after cutting (destructive).

In this subproject, we also want to measure internal quality in a non-destructive manner to allow for a classification based on internal quality. To prevent growth of fungus in table grapes, they are currently transported under SO2 conditions. This subproject examines whether grapes can be transported under more environmentally friendly conditions without suffering from fungal growth.

Expected results:

  • A better understanding of brown discoloration in cut mangoes;
  • Using NIR (Near Infrared) technology, mangoes can be classified in a non-destructive manner;
  • Better control over brown discoloration of beans;
  • Inhibition of fungal growth in table grapes using CO2 during transport instead of SO2;
  • Improvement of transport conditions through better air distribution in containers using a T-bar floor cover (in collaboration with a commercial party (Otflow) who market this).

Achieved results

This project was concluded with a final seminar on Thursday 14 March 2019. The results achieved by this subproject are recorded in the following factsheets: