New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science
abstracts
Foreword
APHC 2005
Australasian Postharvest Horticulture Conference: optimising customer value
through postharvest technologies, 27–30 September 2005, Rotorua, New Zealand
Don Brash
Chairman, Organising Committee APHC 2005
Crop & Food Research
Private Bag 11 600
Palmerston North, New Zealand
email brashd@crop.cri.nz
Australasian Postharvest Horticulture Conferences are held every 2 years
in either Australia or New Zealand. The papers in this issue of the New Zealand
Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science (NZJCHS) come from APHC 2005 held
in Rotorua, 27–30 September 2005. Just over 100 people attended, mainly
researchers but also a number of industry participants. Although most participants
were from Australia and New Zealand, the conference also drew delegates from
Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka) and further afield (Hawaii, Spain, Brazil,
South Africa, Israel, and Oman).
Postharvest research groups from Crop & Food Research and Massey University
combined forces to run the conference with the theme “Optimising customer
value through postharvest technologies”. Peter Silcock, the CEO of Horticulture
New Zealand, opened the conference and pointed to the role that postharvest research
had made in the expansion of New Zealand’s horticultural exports in the
last 20 years. He focused on the serious challenges ahead for New Zealand exporters:
more biosecurity and food safety measures; differentiating products as Asian
markets expand; more sophisticated consumers; and greater focus on health, well-being
and taste attributes of fresh produce.
There were 46 oral presentations arranged in 10 imaginatively-named sessions
covering the full range of postharvest issues: “What the customer really
wants”; “What makes fresh produce tick”; “Fresh, cut
and wrapped”; “Keeping it clean”; “The health factor”; “Skin
deep”; “Keep it cool and CAlm” (i.e., coolchain and CA applications); “Stop
the rot”; “Optimising product quality”; and “A tasty
ending”.
Highlights of the meeting included information on postharvest changes in
health-related qualities of fresh produce. The prospect of a peelable kiwifruit
from HortResearch looks attractive. Roger Harker, also from HortResearch, entertained
with his venture into the minds of buyers of apples and found our choices are
not always based on quality but rather governed by past experiences.
Invited speakers gave perspectives on what the consumer really wants. They
included: fresh produce retail commentator, Hans Maurer, of the Agrichain Centre;
horticultural supply systems expert, Frank Bollen of Lincoln Ventures Limited;
and fresh-cut producer, Stephen Dench of New Zealand Fresh-cuts Ltd. Mike Butcher,
R&D
Manager at Pipfruit NZ, highlighted the need to integrate pest management from
the field to market in a softer, more targeted approach to control quarantine
pests. Other key speakers were: Ron Wills who spoke on the potential for nitric
oxide to extend postharvest life; Rod Jones of DPI Victoria, Australia, who linked
postharvest handling to health-related phytochemical content of fruit and vegetables;
and pioneer of hot water rinsing and brushing technology, Eli Fallik of Volcani
Institute in Israel, who described new applications for this technology. John
Bower from South Africa reported on progress on a similar theme, using bio-control
products for integrated postharvest disease control of fruit crops. Jocelyn Eason
of Crop & Food Research shared the latest insights gleaned from examining
gene control of a range of different pathways involved in postharvest senescence.
Abstracts for all the presentations are reproduced in this volume along with
a selection of full papers.
The conference was also a very sociable event, in true New Zealand/Australian
style. Don Brash led a pre-conference 2-day tour to sites of postharvest interest
between Auckland and Rotorua, including a visit to a ship loading kiwifruit
at Mount Maunganui. The poster session (53 posters) was livened up by Erin
O’Donoghue
and Julian Heyes, offering food, wine, and plenty of prizes. There was a choice
of mid-week field trips to an avocado packhouse or local “thermal” attractions.
Many attendees learnt, then presented on stage, a Maori haka or poi dance at
the conference dinner. Participants in all these activities spoke highly of their
experiences and said the atmosphere at the conference was extremely friendly.
Jenny Ekman from NSW DPI is leading the organising team for the next meeting
which is scheduled for Gosford, near Sydney in 2007 (www.aphc2007.com.au).
For more information contact: Don Brash (Tel. +64 6 355 6117; Fax +64 6 351
7050; email brashd@crop.cri.nz).
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2007, Vol. 35: 177–178
0014–0671/07/3502–0177 © The Royal Society of New Zealand
2007
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