Fresh-Cut Stone Fruit

Stone fruits are notoriously difficult to process for fresh-cut products, and there have been few commercially marketable fresh-cut stone fruit items over the years. Researchers have looked at dips and processes to maintain quality and freshness, primarily in peaches and nectarines. But Fruit Dynamics, Fresno, Calif., has worked for the last five years to develop a full program for fresh-cut stone fruit, and it’s finally ready for market.

Fruit Dynamics, operated by Kim and Eric Gaarde and founded in 2002, is an independent analysis and evaluation service focused on fruits. The company does everything from titrating acidity to conducting consumer taste panels for breeders, growers, packers, marketers and retailers. One of the products the Gaardes have developed is FruitSpan, a database of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, plum/cherry/apricot hybrids, grape, cherry, kiwi, apple and citrus cultivars. The database, extending back to 1993, includes varietal characteristics, lab analyses, storage and shelf life performance, varietal response to weather events, production volume and size distribution on over 2,400 commercial and unreleased varieties. The company also actively scouts 12 stone fruit breeding programs for unreleased, experimental fruit varieties.

All of that data led Kim Gaarde to start playing with difference processes on peaches and nectarines, as there were no fresh-cut stone fruits on the market.

“I started asking the question, why isn’t anyone cutting peaches and nectarines?” she said.

Over the last five years, she’s refined the process and narrowed it down to varieties that will work for year-round production of fresh-cut items. Fruit Dynamics has developed a list of varieties, processing specifications and packaging materials for a final product. Gaarde said Fruit Dynamics wasn’t looking to start up its own processing line, so the company would likely license the project to strategically selected processors or sell it outright. The lease or sale would include the intellectual properties associated with the product as well as ongoing consulting and support.

There are more than 400 commercial varieties of peaches and nectarines grown in California alone, and they all have varietal differences and flavor profiles, so processing any old peach or nectarine won’t result in a consistent product, Gaarde said.

“The varietal selection is very, very important, so having access to them and the data is the fundamental reason we’ve been successful,” she said.

The flavor is the most important aspect to fresh-cut stone fruits, Gaarde said. Some varieties work better than others for cutting and storing, but if their flavor profile isn’t acceptable, it’s not a variety that should be used for fresh-cut.

“If it doesn’t meet the optimum flavor profile, we don’t even cut it,” she said. “Obviously, as with everything, once you get a consumer to pick it up and try it, you have to get them to come back with a consistent flavor profile.”

As with packaging any fresh-cut product, the package design is a key element in preserving quality and shelf life. Fruit Dynamics’ core competencies are the evaluation and analysis of fruit varieties and post-harvest research and development. and testing and evaluation. The company hadn’t worked with packaging, so that was a learning experience, Gaarde said.

“That kind of threw us for a loop because we had never done testing on packaging,” she said.

Fruit Dynamics worked with Jeffrey Brandenburg of The JSB Group LLC in Greenfield, Mass., to create packaging options that would work for fresh-cut stone fruit. Gaarde said Brandenburg, whose company serves as a worldwide technology resource for the flexible, produce and food packaging industries, was initially skeptical of the product at first because there were few successful fresh cut stone fruit products, but after working with the company for some time, he said the product is in the final stages and ready for market.

The packaging material is a Modified Atmosphere packaging films produced by Bunzl Distribution have unique gas transmission rates different Oxygen Transfer Rates based on the respiration rate of the specific variety to be packaged. The target shelf life is 15 days, but that varies based on the variety as well. Some only get 10 days, others achieve get out to 15 days without losing quality and still others hold to 20 days or more if strict quality control and chill chain management is maintained. Gaarde said in her experience, most large-scale processors have good adequate cold chains and supply chain management to enable to the product to achieve the optimal shelf life. The company is currently finalizing temperature abuse trials and confirmation of previous microbiological testing.

Once a processor signs on contracts to process stone fruit based on Fruit Dynamics’ research, the company will continue to work with suppliers and plant breeders to maintain a consistent supply and continue the development of new varieties with the optimal quality characteristics for fresh-cut, Gaarde said.

“The supply is there now for an initial product release,” she said.

There are enough acceptable varieties for a year-round supply, Gaarde said, and there are even a few late season varieties that store well enough to cover any gaps in production between the northern and southern hemispheres. In fact, Gaarde said, there is still adequate time for an extremely agile, quick-moving company to run a pilot offering this season, and definitely time to introduce Southern Hemisphere product.

In informal taste testing of the fresh-cut stone fruit, Gaarde said children really liked them. She said it’s a different type of experience eating fresh-cut peaches and nectarines – more of a healthy, on-the-go alternative on the go than a casual Saturday Sunday afternoon eating fresh peaches on the porch.

The first formal taste panel in late August was conducted with 30 panelists representing the demographics of Fresno County, Calif. Most were familiar with fresh-cut products, with 89 percent already purchasing value-added or ready-to-eat fruits. If more stone fruits were available in sliced form, 87 percent of the panel said they would eat more stone fruits, and 10 percent said they would eat the same amount. The panel overwhelmingly considered fresh-cut peaches and nectarines to be a snack item that would be an alternative to chips or candy.

-Scott Christie, Managing Editor