POTATO SPROUT TECHNOLOGY SEES ADVANCEMENTS IN MONITORING AND FUNCTIONALITY
SPROUT control technology provider, Biofresh Safestore, has added two new features to its system.
A CO2 monitor and Pulsed Start functionality are now available on its ethylene potato sprout suppressant system.
The CO2 monitor, which can be incorporated into new systems as an optional extra or retrofitted to existing systems, takes readings every 30 minutes with the levels displayed on the HMI screen. The system can be connected to store ventilation systems, allowing fully automated management of CO2 within set parameters. When using ethylene as a sprout suppressant, active management of CO2 levels will help maintain fry-colours in processing crops.
Introducing ethylene gradually to the store in short bursts (a ‘Pulsed Start’) followed by a gradual ramping-up of continuous ethylene, can help mitigate the effect that ethylene may have on fry-colours in processing potato crops. The Safestore system can be programmed to fully automate this process. Safestore technical personnel will assist growers with identifying the optimum programme for their situations allowing for varietal differences, storage temperatures and end-user specifications.
Biofresh Safestore’s Director of Operations, Jeremy Barraclough, said: “As a company, we have always been focused on providing the best possible method of helping our customers deliver the best quality product, and these two new features will make achieving that even easier. Both the CO2 monitor and the pulsed start functionality take the Biofresh Safestore system to the next level and give our growers even more control of their stores. We’ve worked hard to ensure that both of these new features can be added easily and quickly to existing systems and do not require existing customers to purchase completely new systems. We think both features will further enhance the quality of the potatoes that our customers are storing.”
Ethylene-based potato sprout suppressant systems extend the life of potatoes without any chemical residue and the Safestore system can be used in box or bulk stores. In the UK, ethylene has been used commercially since 2003 as an alternative to more traditional chemical-based sprout suppressants.
Originally targeted at providing a residue-free sprout suppressant solution for pre-pack crops, further to the demise of CIPC in Europe, ethylene is also used extensively in crops destined for processing.
