New Citrus Quality Tests at APAL

24/10/2011 12:36:21 PM

Phil Barnett

Have you ever sucked on a new season's orange that tasted like a lemon? Citrus quality is essential for consumer satisfaction and therefore for the long term growth of the industry.

Citrus Australia has been proactive in developing new citrus quality standards and is working with APAL to test fruit coming onto the market in South Australia this year.

 The standards will assist growers, packers, marketers and retailers to deliver quality citrus that consumers can purchase with confidence. The test measures three key factors:

• Juiciness
• Sweetness
• Balance between sweetness and acidity.

Minimum standards have been set for each variety with new season Valencias being the first targeted in the trial this year.

 APAL sees great potential for following up any samples that don’t meet the quality standards and identifying possible reasons for the failure.

 

The keys to quality in any crop are good soil and tree nutrition so a follow up program of soil and leaf tissue testing will be undertaken to identify problems and management changes required.

 

The APAL Citrus Quality Tests will soon be available to all citrus industry players – we will keep you posted and let you know the details as soon as we can.

 

For further information contact Citrus Australia www.citrusaustralia.com.au