- Author: Christine Huang
Once again, the UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center is excited to announce another successful Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops Short Course. This year's course marks our 37th anniversary! Our short course comprises two separate weeks of instruction. The first week is spent on intensive lectures, discussions, and hands-on laboratory sessions on the UC Davis campus. The optional...
- Author: Mary E. Reed
The brief season of apricot harvest is upon us, and many fruit enthusiasts will soon bite into one of these small, delicate, yellowish-orange fruits. I grew up in a San Jose subdivision that was built on an apricot orchard. Each house had 2-3 apricot trees left on the lot, and so I have great memories of enjoying them fresh from the tree, still warm- from-the-sun and tartly-sweet. But, I have to admit that my favorite form of apricot then and now, are home-dried apricots. They sure were a great treat to find nestled in my trusty red-plaid metal lunchbox in the middle of winter.
Apricots have been grown in the fertile crescent of Persia for thousands of years. The colonists brought the apricot to North...
- Author: Mary E. Reed
There is a wide schism between the sleek mechanical harvesting machines that briskly traverse California’s fertile croplands versus the field worker with a machete and head-basket, or possibly a donkey laden with woven baskets, that is still most commonly found in many nations.
Produce loss continues to be a significant problem. Worldwide, it is estimated that as much as one-third of the produce grown is never consumed by humans (Kader, 2005). Many logistical challenges contribute to this loss, including: ineffective or absent cooling systems, slow and rough transportation, physical damage from rough handling, and poor sanitation conditions.
In...
- Author: Mary E. Reed
This 16 page booklet offers information that will help consumers pick good-quality, healthy fruits and vegetables that are a vital part of one's daily diet. Information on how to handle those fresh fruits and vegetables once you get them home, and also how growing and harvesting factors affect quality is also included. There are tables that show the number of steps between the field and your table, and also show which items...
- Author: Mary E. Reed
Dr. Diane Barrett, one of the Postharvest Technology Center's Specialists, held a four day course on low acid and acidified food processing -- the Better Process Control School (BPCS) -- which was held February 9-12, 2010.
One-hundred-and-three food processing industry attendees successfully passed this Food & Drug...