DAVIS, CA - The bane of every fruit producer's existence is spoilage—no one likes to waste food, or money—but the results of a UC Davis trial focused on Hazel Technologies’ new shelf-life extending product may offer a solution.

The Hazel Technologies product in question is an in-box sachet that aims to inhibit the action of ethylene, a substance that speeds the decay of fruit. To test the product, late-season Patterson apricots—grown near Yakima, Washington—were packed up with the Hazel Technologies shelf-life extending sachets and then shipped to California and held in retail-like conditions at UC Davis.

“We are extremely pleased to report that UC Davis researchers saw significant increases in apricot firmness, even after release from 20 days in cold storage,” Adam Preslar, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Hazel, said in the release. “Stone fruits have their own unique challenges in the fresh supply chain, and we are thrilled to offer the apricot and larger stone fruit industry a technology that can help growers and shippers provide top-quality fruit to the market. We look forward to partnering with UC Davis on more stone fruit trials.”

“We were able to show conclusively that apricot firmness was preserved by approximately 30-50% in apricots subjected to retail conditions when Hazel Apricot was used in the supply chain,” Angelos Deltsidis, Associate Director of the Postharvest Technology Center at UC Davis, said in the release. “Furthermore, there is some indication that skin reddening and red spotting can be reduced in the mature fruit when Hazel Apricot is applied.

“Our research center is committed to finding new post harvest solutions for crops with challenging shelf life, and we are pleased to be working with Hazel on this interesting addition to apricot shelf life technology,” Deltsidis continued.

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Hazel Technologies Patterson Fruit Farms