Showcasing postharvest developments with potential application in tomatoes. Presented March 7th at the Syngenta "We love Tomato" event in Almeria, Spain.

1. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Postharvest Technology in Tomatoes
March 7th 2018
Eelke Westra

2. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Wageningen University & Research – Postharvest Technology
 Quality traits in postharvest
● Measurements
● Predictability
 Packaging to maintain quality
 Choice of modality
 Summary
Outline
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3. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Wageningen
mission
Natural resources and
Living environment
Food, feed and
biobased production
Society and well-being

4. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Supervisory Board
Executive Board
Concern Staff Facilities & Services
Organisational structure
Wageningen
International
RIKILT
Wageningen
Academy
Wageningen
Food & Biobased
Research
Wageningen
Livestock
Research
Wageningen
Bioveterinary
Research
Wageningen
Environmental
Research
Wageningen
Economic
Research
Centre for
Development
Innovation
Wageningen
Plant Research
Agrotechnology
& Food Science
Animal Sciences Environmental
Sciences
Social SciencesPlant Sciences
University
Research Institutes
Agrotechnology
& Food Sciences
Group
Animal
Sciences
Group
Environmental
Sciences
Group
Social
Sciences
Group
Plant
Sciences
Group

5. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Product
LogisticsTechnology
Post-harvest's multi-disciplinary approach

6. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Quality traits
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7. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Depends on consumer
expectance
 Is cumulative effect of
● Initial quality, genotype,
growing conditions,
Postharvest conditions
 Never improves over time (of
fresh produce)
● Tomatoes need ripening!
 Excellent quality
 Available year-round
 Food safe
 Tasty
 Nutritional value
 No food losses
 Sustainable
Quality

8. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Quality in the supply chain
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Qualitytrait(%)
Time
Batch A
Batch B
Batch C
Acceptance Limit

9. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Post harvest quality
Quality
Phenotype
Genotype
Growing
conditions
Post harvest

10. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Colour
 Firmness
 Brix / acidity
 Shelf life
 Defects
 .....
 Taste
 Stem & Calyx
 Anti-oxidants
 Healthy
 ...
Quality traits
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11. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Measurements
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12. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Towards objective + on location measurements
Colour measurement
www.techkon.comResult of
https://www.wur.nl/en/project/GreenCHAINge-Fruit-Vegetables-sustainable-chains-.htm

13. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Creating classes based on colour
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Result of
https://www.wur.nl/en/project/GreenCHAINge-Fruit-Vegetables-sustainable-chains-.htm

14. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Taste
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Electronic “Nose”
Result of
https://www.wur.nl/en/project/GreenCHAINge-Fruit-Vegetables-sustainable-chains-.htm

15. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Prediction
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16. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
4 varieties
2 colour stages
 Variety differences
 Shelf life: 6 tot > 45
 Firmness on day 1 poor
correlation with firmness
development
Genotype and Firmness
Time
Firmness

17. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Chain conditions
Temperature
Distribution
[days]
8°C 10°C 12°C 18°C
9 ++ ++ + ---
11 ++ + + ---
14 + + --- / + ---
17 + --- / + --- ---
19 --- / + --- / + --- ---

18. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Steering the ripening process
Understanding
the ripening
process and using
applications like
1-MCP helps to
adjust quality as
desired
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19. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Modelling complexity
 Multi-input factors
 Multi-output parameters
 Complex interactions
 Different parts of the supply
chain
What is the expected quality
attribute (Q) of the tomato
cultivar (x) produced by
grower (y) in season (z) stored
for (a) days at temperature (b)
in packaging (c)?
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20. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
New powerful tool: Bayesian Networks
 Use in:
● Medicine: Diagnostics
● Sports: Betting
“Humans tend to fail to change
their mind in the face of changing
evidence”
 Under development in
horticulture
● Predict vase life of cut
flowers (roses)
● Predict quality of
strawberries
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FeverCough
FluSmokes
Allergy

21. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Complex Soft Fruit Network
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Result of
https://www.wur.nl/en/project/GreenCHAINge-Fruit-Vegetables-sustainable-chains-.htm

22. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Packaging
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23. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Fit logistical system
 Enables optimal conditioning
Packaging

24. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Tomatoes packed in its own leaves
 Sold by The Greenery and won European award
Tomato package: WFBR technology

25. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Where are you?
 How are you? (Prediction models T-based)
 How long keepable?
Fresh box concept for e-commerce
Pasteur RFID chip

26. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
PicknPack – Vine tomato from crate VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ53x2owBY8

27. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Choice of modality
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28. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Product
LogisticsTechnology
Transport choice interwoven

29. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 What choice to make with information supplied (known)
Information based choice
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Temperature
Distribution
[days]
8°C 10°C 12°C 18°C
9 ++ ++ + ---
11 ++ + + ---
14 + + --- / + ---
17 + --- / + --- ---
19 --- / + --- / + --- ---

30. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Initial Quality
 Climate conditions in modality
● Packaging
● Climate control
 Time spend in the supply chain
 Costs of modality
Choice of modality
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31. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Origin: Kenia Roses
 Destination: Netherlands
 Transport: Sea
 Equipment: 40ft reefer container
 Product: Cut Roses
 Transit time: 30 days
 Vase life: >7 days
 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1XfDTfSem6Y
Transport of cut-flowers
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https://www.wur.nl/en/project/GreenCHAINge-Ornamentals.htm

32. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Summary
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33. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
 Consumer more critical demands
 Longer storage / transport time
 Developing products / production
methods
“One size DOESN’T fit all”
 Techniques available to:
● Adapt to specific (changing)
demands
● Extend shelf life
Summary
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34. L O V E T O M A T O 7th-8th March 2018
Thank you
Wageningen Food & Biobased
Research
Eelke.Westra@wur.nl
+31 317 480 208
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