15AGRITECHCAT3 SafePod: New technology for intelligent control of fresh produce storage
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Greenwich
Department Name: Natural Resources Institute, FES
Abstract
Longer-term storage extends the marketing period for UK grown apples and pears, but is an increasing challenge as restrictions on chemical use become more stringent. One route to achieve this is low O2 storage, but this is risky due to the possibility of low O2 damage. By providing the means to detect the onset of stress in stored apples, SafePod enables storage closer to the tolerance limits of atmospheric composition, thus improving fruit quality and minimising losses due to
disorders.
SafePod detects stress through changes in respiratory characteristics that indicate a switch to damaging anaerobic respiration. SafePod is a chamber placed within a fruit store which holds a sample of fruit representative of the whole store consignment. The SafePod atmosphere can be isolated from that of the whole store, and so that the respiratory characteristics of fruit can be measured using new-generation gas sensors.
The key research component within this project is to determine the relationship between the changes in the respiratory characteristics of the fruit and the optimum storage environment. This is expected to differ by fruit variety according to tissue characteristics such as density and mineral composition, and also to be highly dependent on fruit maturity. The researchers will work closely with the rest of the consortium to optimise the use of the prototype SafePod in growers' stores and to provide Best Practice Guides on how to translate the SafePod data to optimise storage strategies.
disorders.
SafePod detects stress through changes in respiratory characteristics that indicate a switch to damaging anaerobic respiration. SafePod is a chamber placed within a fruit store which holds a sample of fruit representative of the whole store consignment. The SafePod atmosphere can be isolated from that of the whole store, and so that the respiratory characteristics of fruit can be measured using new-generation gas sensors.
The key research component within this project is to determine the relationship between the changes in the respiratory characteristics of the fruit and the optimum storage environment. This is expected to differ by fruit variety according to tissue characteristics such as density and mineral composition, and also to be highly dependent on fruit maturity. The researchers will work closely with the rest of the consortium to optimise the use of the prototype SafePod in growers' stores and to provide Best Practice Guides on how to translate the SafePod data to optimise storage strategies.
Technical Summary
Over 170 k tonnes of apples and pears are stored annually in the UK. In the absence of post-harvest chemicals, losses due to poor quality and disease are estimated at 3-15%. The project will deliver a new engineering solution to reduce losses. By monitoring metabolic status of fruit, SafePod will allow growers to use lower storage O2 concentrations than currently achievable, extending storage-life of fruit without risking damage. The project will optimise the use of the prototype SafePod in growers' stores and under lab conditions to define optimum storage for different apple and pear varieties and operating conditions for SafePod. The project brings together post-harvest researchers, storage engineers, growers and the retail sector to deliver better quality fruit to the consumer and reduce waste. The global market for SafePod is huge, with potential markets in UK and worldwide includingUSA/Canada, Australia, Europe and India.
Planned Impact
Longer-term storage extends the marketing period for UK grown apples, but is an increasing challenge as restrictions on chemical use become more stringent. One route to achieve this is low O2 storage, but this is risky due to the possibility of low O2 damage. By providing the means to detect the onset of stress in stored apples, SafePod enables storage closer to the tolerance limits of atmospheric composition, thus improving fruit quality and minimising losses due to disorders. The
ouputs of this project will therefore have practical implications for the fresh produce industry.
SafePod introduction is timely as the long-term storage potential of apples (4-12 months) has been compromised by loss of post-harvest chemicals resulting in 3-15% (£3-15 million) losses of the stored UK crop. The SafePod system can deliver an estimated of £3-6 million cost saving through reduction in waste in the UK alone. With a 40 % rise in in two of UK's major apple vars. Gala and Braeburn, there is a large economic gain in extended storage/ marketing period.
SafePod will be equally effective in extending storage life of a wide range of apple and pear varieties, and in monitoring storage health of other commodities (potato, onion, stone fruit, avocado, cabbage and beans). Costing ~£5K for a unit and a lifespan of 15 years is cost competitive.
Consumers and retailers will both benefit from increased sales of UK fruit with improved quality and greater seasonal availability.
The SafePod will reduce economic waste of downgraded fruit and lower the incidence of post-harvest diseases and physiological disorders that reduce growers profitability. All of this will be achieved with a reduced dependence on chemical use. The reduction in losses constitutes an energy saving.
ICA will benefit from sales of SafePods within the UK and overseas. Short-term benefits of £7M are estimated. In addition a modified stand-alone lab-based 'LabPod' will be developed, suitable for CA research facilities. SafePod's advantage is easy integration into existing ICA storage equipment used extensively in the UK (90%) making adoption cost effective.
The research will provide insights that will have applications beyond top fruit storage. For example it will provide insight into the impact of tissue structure on gas exchange and how this in turn impacts on metabolic response to stresses of extreme controlled atmosphere conditions. This could have applications beyond fruit to other bulky commodities such as potato.
ouputs of this project will therefore have practical implications for the fresh produce industry.
SafePod introduction is timely as the long-term storage potential of apples (4-12 months) has been compromised by loss of post-harvest chemicals resulting in 3-15% (£3-15 million) losses of the stored UK crop. The SafePod system can deliver an estimated of £3-6 million cost saving through reduction in waste in the UK alone. With a 40 % rise in in two of UK's major apple vars. Gala and Braeburn, there is a large economic gain in extended storage/ marketing period.
SafePod will be equally effective in extending storage life of a wide range of apple and pear varieties, and in monitoring storage health of other commodities (potato, onion, stone fruit, avocado, cabbage and beans). Costing ~£5K for a unit and a lifespan of 15 years is cost competitive.
Consumers and retailers will both benefit from increased sales of UK fruit with improved quality and greater seasonal availability.
The SafePod will reduce economic waste of downgraded fruit and lower the incidence of post-harvest diseases and physiological disorders that reduce growers profitability. All of this will be achieved with a reduced dependence on chemical use. The reduction in losses constitutes an energy saving.
ICA will benefit from sales of SafePods within the UK and overseas. Short-term benefits of £7M are estimated. In addition a modified stand-alone lab-based 'LabPod' will be developed, suitable for CA research facilities. SafePod's advantage is easy integration into existing ICA storage equipment used extensively in the UK (90%) making adoption cost effective.
The research will provide insights that will have applications beyond top fruit storage. For example it will provide insight into the impact of tissue structure on gas exchange and how this in turn impacts on metabolic response to stresses of extreme controlled atmosphere conditions. This could have applications beyond fruit to other bulky commodities such as potato.
Organisations
- University of Greenwich (Lead Research Organisation)
- Blue Skies Holdings Ltd (Collaboration)
- Storage Control Systems (Collaboration)
- Agricultural and Horticulture Development Board (Collaboration)
- NORTON FOLGATE MARKETING LTD (Collaboration)
- ICA (International Controlled Atmosphere (Project Partner)
- Avalon Produce Limited (Project Partner)
- Sainsbury's (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- AC Goatham & Son (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Rees D
(2021)
SafePod: A respiration chamber to characterise apple fruit response to storage atmospheres
in Postharvest Biology and Technology
Fisher L
(2022)
The effect of wash water chlorine content on the pinking discolouration of fresh cut Iceberg lettuce
in International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation
Description | This project focused on a technology to improve long-term storage of apples. Apples may be stored for several months through a combination of low temperature and a reduction in oxygen concentration, both of which slow down the metabolism and therefore slow down the ripening of the fruit. This project involved the development of the SafePod; a chamber that can be placed within a commercial apple controlled atmosphere store in order to monitor the metabolic status of the fruit. Specifically, the SafePod is able to analyse the respiratory characteristics of the apples, in terms of the respiratory quotient, carbon dioxide evolved/oxygen consumed. When the oxygen in the atmosphere is too low, this ratio increases indicatin that the fruit is starting to ferment. The SafePod therefore provides a mechanism for selecting the optimum oxygen concentration; low enough to slow metabolism, but not so low that the fruit starts to ferment (respire anaerobically). In addition to this, during the course of the project we discovered that by monitoring the rate of respiration we could predict fruit disorders, ensuring that the fruit was taken out and used before it deteriorated. |
Exploitation Route | We believe there are significant opportunities to use the concept of metabolic monitoring in the storage of other crops. We are currently carrying out a set of proof of concept trials on potato storage. This is described in the section on collaborations. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink |
URL | http://www.storagecontrol.com |
Description | This project involved the development of the SafePod; a chamber that can be placed within a commercial apple controlled atmosphere store in order to monitor the metabolic status of the fruit. By detecting when the fruit is stressed, this enables the storage environment to be optimised. Furthermore, by monitoring changes in respiration rate through the storage season, it is possible to predict when the fruit has reached the end of its storage life and should be removed for marketing. This technology is now being used by apple growers in the UK and in North America. There are 55 units being used in the UK and 220 in the USA. We estimate that over $325 million worth of fruit is being stored with SafePod technology worldwide this season. The concept of monitoring metabolic status in storage using SafePod is now being tested for other commodities, including potato. This season the technology is being used to undertake laboratory trials and to monitor tuber metabolic response to storage environments within commercial stores. An updated "P-Pod" focusing on more accurately simulating the commercial store environment is currently being constructed and will be tested later in teh year. |
First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation. |
Amount | £746,618 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/V010654/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2021 |
End | 09/2024 |
Description | Developing controlled atmosphere storage of Mangoes |
Organisation | Blue Skies Holdings Ltd |
Department | Blue Sky Products (Ghana) Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Using the SafePod technology to carry out trials, we have worked with Blue Skies to test and optimise CA storage of mature, unripe mangoes. The objective of these trials is to lengthen the processing season for Blue Skies fresh cut mango production in Ghana. |
Collaborator Contribution | Blue Skies fund the trials and provide both the materisla and expertise on mango. |
Impact | Storage protocols to enable longer term storage of mango. Development of a proposal for funding to replace plastic packaging with paper based packaging. Funding secured subject to contract. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | P-Pod - Extending the SafePod technology to monitor potato tuber status in situ during storage |
Organisation | Agricultural and Horticulture Development Board |
Department | Potato Council |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Long term potato storage is a challenge especially for processing potatoes, as tubers need to be stored for several months and losses can often be over 10%. The loss of Chlorpropham (CIPC) for sprout control is especially challenging for the processing sector for which storage at higher temperatures is necessary to avoid low temperature sweetening. The rationale of the P-Pod technology is to develop accurate in-store real-time monitoring of the physiological status of tubers to allow more efficient storage protocols, accurately tailored to the characteristics of each cultivar so that existing sprout control methods can be more effective. The concept was originally developed as the SafePod technology to monitor the status of fruit during long-term apple storage. The P-Pod is a chamber designed to be placed within a commercial store to monitor the status of samples of tubers (80 - 100 Kg) throughout the storage period. The Pod can be controlled in two modes; shared and isolated. In the shared mode tubers within the chamber are exposed to the same conditions as the rest of the store, while, when temporarily set to isolated mode, the pods seal tubers inside the pod while respiration measurements are performed using high resolution CO2 and O2 sensors. The project has run in three consecutive seasons (2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21) with increasingly sophisticated evolutions of the technology as more has been learnt about the needs and challenges of in situ respiratory monitoring of potato tubers. The research team advised on the design of the P-Pod equipment and have undertaken a set of storage trials over three seasons to develop protocols to use respiratory characteristics to monitor tuber physiological status and quality. |
Collaborator Contribution | Storage Control Systems Inc, designed and manufactured the equipment. AHDB Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research undertook a set of parallel trials at their facilities. |
Impact | Results are preliminary, but indicate that the respiratory response of potato tubers do provide valuable information on physiological status and quality. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | P-Pod - Extending the SafePod technology to monitor potato tuber status in situ during storage |
Organisation | Storage Control Systems |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Long term potato storage is a challenge especially for processing potatoes, as tubers need to be stored for several months and losses can often be over 10%. The loss of Chlorpropham (CIPC) for sprout control is especially challenging for the processing sector for which storage at higher temperatures is necessary to avoid low temperature sweetening. The rationale of the P-Pod technology is to develop accurate in-store real-time monitoring of the physiological status of tubers to allow more efficient storage protocols, accurately tailored to the characteristics of each cultivar so that existing sprout control methods can be more effective. The concept was originally developed as the SafePod technology to monitor the status of fruit during long-term apple storage. The P-Pod is a chamber designed to be placed within a commercial store to monitor the status of samples of tubers (80 - 100 Kg) throughout the storage period. The Pod can be controlled in two modes; shared and isolated. In the shared mode tubers within the chamber are exposed to the same conditions as the rest of the store, while, when temporarily set to isolated mode, the pods seal tubers inside the pod while respiration measurements are performed using high resolution CO2 and O2 sensors. The project has run in three consecutive seasons (2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21) with increasingly sophisticated evolutions of the technology as more has been learnt about the needs and challenges of in situ respiratory monitoring of potato tubers. The research team advised on the design of the P-Pod equipment and have undertaken a set of storage trials over three seasons to develop protocols to use respiratory characteristics to monitor tuber physiological status and quality. |
Collaborator Contribution | Storage Control Systems Inc, designed and manufactured the equipment. AHDB Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research undertook a set of parallel trials at their facilities. |
Impact | Results are preliminary, but indicate that the respiratory response of potato tubers do provide valuable information on physiological status and quality. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Project consortium - Extending the season for Kentish Cherries |
Organisation | Norton Folgate Marketing Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | A consortium has been set up involving Norton Folgate, CE Murch, Storage Control Systems Ltd, TerraPrima Group, International Water Solutions, NRI-UoGreenwich. A resulting project proposal was developed led by a team from Norton Folgate and NRI. The proposal has been funded through the Strength in Places project, Growing Kent and Medway, subject to Grant Offer Letter. The team that developed SafePod was central to this project development. The SafePod technology will be used in two ways, as a means of characterising fruit to optimise harvest time, and as a means to develop a commercially viable system for cherry storage using controlled atmospheres. |
Collaborator Contribution | The overall project involves the application of a range of technologies to extend the Cherry season. In addition to the technologies related to SafePod, TerraPrima provide sensing technology to monitor production conditions and International Water Solutions provide technologies to sanitise rain covers and fruit after harvest. |
Impact | Successful application for funding (subject to offer letter) for a project to improve cherry production and storage in the UK |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Grower meeting to explain use of SafePod for apple storage |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Training of apple storers to improve storage of fruit |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Participation in Channel 5 programme "Secrets of Your Supermarket Shop". |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Debbie Rees was interviewed about handling of fresh produce in a Channel 5 programme " Secrets of your supermarket shop". Subjects covered included the role of packaging, storage atmospheres and artificial ripening. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation for NIAB EMR tree fruit technical day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation on technologies to monitor apple response to low oxygen storate. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation to Growers training course, Washington State USA |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I was invited to present at an annual event organised for the Washington State apple growers, specifically to present a talk about the findings of this project, and thereby to inform the US apple industry on the potential of this technology |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Seminar for series run by Advanced Plant Growth Centre, James Hutton Institute |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A presentation to a national/international audience comprising researchers and businesses involved in fresh produce supply chains on the value of metabolic monitoring during storage and handling. The talk described how the technology and approaches developed using SafePod technology can be used to optimise packaging and extend storage of fresh produce, with particular focus on switching from air to sea freight for imported produce. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Talk for Agritech E Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A presentation to a national audience comprising researchers and businesses involved in fresh produce supply chains on the value of metabolic monitoring during storage and handling. The talk described how the technology and approaches developed using SafePod technology can be used to optimise packaging and extend storage of fresh produce, with particular focus on switching from air to sea freight for imported produce. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Television interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was interviewed on a Channel 5 programme about food supplies from supermarkets. The main discussion centred around the issue that the public may be surprised to find that the apples they purchase from supermarkets have been picked several months ago. Despite the aim of the programme to produce "shocking stories", the coverage was very sympathetic to UK apple storers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |