Citrosol expands its postharvest treatment solutions

Citrosol presented new results and application experiences for CATsystem® and the Citrocide® Fresh-Cut System at Fruit Attraction, two of its solutions for controlling postharvest processes and ensuring food safety. The company also showcased the latest developments in GREENFOG-AS, a dry fumigant treatment that incorporates a new electronic ignition system to facilitate application and prevent the operator from being directly exposed at the start of the treatment.

CATsystem® keeps treatment concentrations under control

CATsystem® was one of the highlights at the Citrosol stand. The system continuously measures the concentrations of fungicides, disinfectants, additives and processing aids present in treatment solutions and automatically corrects them when they deviate from the established levels. This keeps concentrations at their target levels throughout the process, even when large volumes of fruit are treated using drencher or cascade systems.

“At this trade fair, we have continued to present and showcase the results obtained with CATsystem®. It is a system that automatically measures and corrects the concentrations of fungicides and other additives in the treatment solution, keeping them within the target levels at all times,” explained Jorge Bretó, CEO of Citrosol.

Maintaining stable concentrations helps preserve treatment effectiveness throughout the operation. It also helps prevent repeated exposure to sublethal concentrations, which can favour the selection of resistant populations and progressively reduce the effectiveness of fungicide programmes.

“CATsystem® makes it possible to significantly reduce decay problems associated with variations in the concentrations of drencher solutions. By keeping the concentrations of fungicides, additives and processing aids constant, the conditions that may favour the emergence and selection of resistance are minimised,” Bretó added.

Automatic control also provides greater stability and traceability in postharvest treatment, reduces reliance on manual adjustments and facilitates more consistent management of treatment solutions. According to the company, the results presented at Fruit Attraction support the potential of CATsystem® to improve treatment effectiveness and reduce decay-related losses during fruit storage and marketing.

Citrocide® Fresh-Cut expands its presence in fresh-cut and frozen produce

Citrosol also presented progress with the Citrocide® Fresh-Cut System, designed for the fresh-cut produce industry and increasingly being adopted in frozen fruit and vegetable processing facilities. In both cases, microbiological control of water and the washing process is essential to ensure food safety.

The system continuously monitors the process and automatically adjusts washing conditions to maintain the established parameters. This makes it possible to manage one of the sensitive stages of production more consistently, reduce the risk of cross-contamination and strengthen the food safety of the final product.

“Citrocide® Fresh-Cut represents a major improvement in the washing process. It provides much greater control over disinfection and the production process as a whole, thereby improving food safety,” Bretó highlighted.

In addition to improving process control, the system can help extend the commercial shelf life of certain minimally processed products. More precise control during washing helps reduce the microbial load and support product preservation throughout distribution and marketing.

“We are seeing very good adoption of Citrocide® Fresh-Cut, both in the fresh-cut sector and in the frozen fruit and vegetable market. For some minimally processed products, the system not only improves food safety but also allows us to extend their commercial shelf life,” said the Citrosol CEO.

The company also highlighted that the process does not generate disinfection by-products, unlike chlorination-based disinfection treatments, which can present this drawback. In this way, Citrocide® Fresh-Cut combines process control and food safety with the potential to improve the commercial shelf life of certain products, without generating the by-products associated with chlorine-based disinfection.

GREENFOG-AS incorporates an electronic ignition system

Another solution showcased by Citrosol at Fruit Attraction was GREENFOG-AS, a dry fumigant treatment whose main new feature is the addition of an electronic ignition system. This improvement allows the fumigant canister to be activated without requiring the operator to be directly exposed during the start of the treatment, making application easier and enhancing safety.

GREENFOG-AS is particularly suitable for treating citrus fruit in cold-storage rooms and containers. Its application distributes the treatment through the surrounding air without wetting or handling the fruit, a feature of interest for controlling various decay-causing pathogens.

“GREENFOG-AS is an ideal tool for treating citrus fruit in storage rooms or containers and is delivering very good results in controlling stem-end mould and Cladosporium. The electronic ignition system also makes it possible to start the treatment without directly exposing the operator,” Bretó explained.

The formulation is based on a compound associated with green chemistry and considered GRAS by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This characteristic extends the potential applications of GREENFOG-AS beyond citrus fruit and opens up possibilities for controlling decay in other fruits and vegetables.

“Its composition and application method open up possibilities for other products. As a dry treatment, GREENFOG-AS offers clear advantages for fruits and vegetables that do not tolerate aqueous treatments or for which adding moisture may be counterproductive,” Bretó concluded.

With these solutions, Citrosol continues to develop technologies aimed at maintaining the effectiveness of postharvest treatments, improving food safety and enabling safer and more sustainable applications.