The Methods of Measuring Fruit & Vegetable Flavor, Color & Texture Workshop, held on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014, primarily focused on the principles and applications of measuring produce color, flavor, and texture. The information largely targeted industries working in fresh produce and processed fruits and vegetables. The day began with detailed lectures on the principles of measuring color by Dr. David Slaughter, the principles of measuring flavor by Dr. Florence Zakharov, and the principles of measuring texture by Dr. Slaughter. Participants described these lectures as “technically excellent” and “informative”, having a “good balance between pertinent theory and application of various technologies”.
Afterwards, companies, including Hunter Labs, Texture Technologies Corporation, and Konica Minolta provided demonstrations of the latest equipment. These demonstrations provided participants with the opportunity to interactively participate with equipment commonly used in the produce industry to measure flavor, color, and texture. The demonstrations reinforced principles taught earlier during lecture. Additionally, participants received information about newly released products.
The workshop ended with lectures of the Applications for Vegetables by Dr. Marita Cantwell and Applications for Fruits by Dr. Diane Barrett and Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia. Dr. Cantwell, described as a “thorough and clear” speaker provided “very complete and practical” information regarding vegetable research. The applicability of her research extended “even to non-vegetable projects”, according to one participant. Dr. Barrett presented “interesting studies and data” with lots of information in regard to methods for different fruit applications. Dr. Arpaia received feedback on her applications of measuring quality for sub-tropical fruit lecture, "Good pace, the take home story was clear."
Overall, the Methods of Measuring Fruit & Vegetable Flavor, Color & Texture Workshop of 2014 was a great success, providing in-depth technical information about the principles of measuring produce color, flavor, and texture which was shown in real-life examples through demonstrations using the latest equipment.
Written by Christine Huang, Postharvest Technology Center Student Assistant