Citrosol, Citrocide Fresh-Fruit System

More than a year ago, the Valencian company Citrosol, together with its Portuguese distributor and partner Nutea, launched the Citrocide® Fresh-Fruit System at the Portuguese company Primofruta Sociedad Hortofrutícola to disinfect and treat the water used for unloading and processing pears and apples. The system has already achieved excellent results, maintaining the post-harvest processing water for these fruits in optimal hygienic conditions. It has also led to a significant improvement in rot control.

Primofruta has stated that this Citrosol system has enabled them to significantly improve the disinfection of their dumping pond. It also offers them greater food safety guarantees and a reduction in rot incidents.

Water disinfection

The water used in post-harvest processes has been identified as one of the main risk factors for microbiological contamination in fresh fruit and vegetables. In this regard, using the same water to wash large volumes of produce during the same operating cycle further increases the danger.

In recent recommendations published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the microbiological risks associated with the use of water in the post-harvest handling of fruit and vegetables, the Panel of Experts on Microbiological Risks concludes that the correct application of a disinfectant to post-harvest processing water for fruit and vegetables is one of the main tools for maintaining the microbiological quality of this water.

The accumulation of inoculum in post-harvest water not only poses a risk to food safety, but can also affect product quality, as it has been shown that poor hygiene in this water increases post-harvest rot caused mainly by phytopathogenic fungi. This becomes even more important in a context where the trend is to eliminate or restrict the use of post-harvest fungicides.

For all these reasons, maintaining the hygienic quality of water in post-harvest processes is an essential requirement in the fruit and vegetable industry.

Citrocide® Fresh-Fruit

Citrosol has a series of systems for the systematic operational monitoring of the disinfection processes of the water used in post-harvesting, among which the aforementioned Citrocide® Fresh-Fruit System stands out, as installed in the Primofruta dumping ponds.

This system allows continuous, real-time monitoring of the disinfection process of the water used in post-harvest fruit and vegetable handling, ensuring optimal concentration of the Citrocide® adjuvant at all times. This comprehensive solution keeps the process water in hygienic conditions (Figure 1) and does not generate disinfection by-products that are potentially hazardous to people or the environment. Citrocide® is certified as an input for organic farming, both by European and US regulations.

In the coming season, the Valencian firm Citrosol and Nutea will continue working to bring this solution to more fruit and vegetable processing plants in Portugal.

Visit us at Fruit Attraction stand 10F22

PRODUCTOS CITROSOL S.A.
PARTIDA ALAMEDA PARC. C. - 46721
POTRIES (VALENCIA). ESPAÑA.
Tel.: +34 96 280 05 12
[email protected] @Citrosol_com  www.citrosol.com