| ISSUE 96: AUGUST 2025 |  |
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| Don’t miss ISTF2025! Register now to join us online. | |||||
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| A workshop on measuring photosynthesis with a portable system will be held back-to-back with the symposium
All symposium participants are welcome to join! |
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| IFEMA Madrid explores collaborators in Southeast Asia | The Hidden Strength of Minor Tropical Fruits: Unlocking the Next Wave of Global Demand | ||||
| TFNet was invited to participate in a meeting with IFEMA Madrid, Qube Integrated Malaysia, and the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) to discuss a proposal for organizing an international fruit trade exhibition in Malaysia. | When people think of tropical fruits, banana, pineapple, mango, papaya, and, avocado dominate the stage but beneath the spotlight lies a quieter diversity: jackfruit, mangosteen, rambutan, longan, soursop, durian, and many others. | ||||
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| TFNet Strengthens Collaboration with FAMA | TFNet and Tanzania Take a Step Closer Towards Membership | ||||
| TFNet CEO, Mr. Muhamed Salim bin Mohd Ali, paid a courtesy call on the Director General of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), Mr. Abdul Rashid bin Bahri on 20 August. | TFNet Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Muhamed Salim bin Mohd Ali, paid a courtesy visit to Mdm. Zainab H. Angovi Mrutu, Head of Chancery at the High Commission of Tanzania in Malaysia. | ||||
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| CABI and TFNet Welcome Delegates from Tanzania | TFNet Seeks Future Collaborations with Cuba and Latin American Countries | ||||
| Representatives from Tanzania, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Cereals and Other Produce Regulatory Authority (COPRA), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) were in Malaysia from 11–15 August 2025. | TFNet Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Muhamed Salim bin Mohd Ali, paid a courtesy visit to the Embassy of Cuba in Malaysia to explore potential partnerships in the tropical fruits sector. | ||||
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| Pakistani Juice Producer Explores Malaysian Market Opportunities | TFNet CEO Visits CABI Southeast Asia Office | ||||
| Shumaila Jabbar, representative of Jugno Foods, Pakistan and PhD scholar at Putra Business School, recently met with Mr. Muhamed Salim bin Mohd Ali, Chief Executive Officer of the International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet). | Mr. Muhamed Salim bin Mohd Ali, Chief Executive Officer of TFNet, recently visited the CABI Southeast Asia office, where he was warmly welcomed by Country Director, Ms. Chin Sing Yun, and Dr. Muhammad Faheem. | ||||
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UPCOMING TFNet ACTIVITIES
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FRUIT EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD
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| 2025 International Symposium on Tropical Fruits (ISTF 2025) Date: 23-25 September 2025 Venue: Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia (Hybrid: in-person and online)9th TFNet General Assembly and 17th TFNet Board of Trustees Meeting Date: 22 September 2025 Venue: Northern Australia Development Office, Darwin, Australia (Hybrid: in-person and online) |
VI International Conference on Postharvest and Quality Management of Horticultural Products of Interest for Tropical Regions Date: 5-7 November 2025 Venue: Bogota, ColombiaXIII International Symposium on Banana: Exploring Banana Diversity for Improved Livelihoods Date: 23-28 August 2026 Venue: Kyoto, Japan |
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| Missed our webinars? You can now watch them in our Youtube channel! | We are looking for contributors to our website and newsletters. Contact us at info@itfnet.org. | ||||
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TROPICAL FRUIT NEWS
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CHINA: Pakistani committed to banana research |  |
MADAGASCAR: How climate change could affect production of the world’s favorite fruit, the banana | ||||
| Waseem Raza spends his mornings meticulously inspecting stems, leaves and fruit clusters before plunging into late-night hours in the lab. | Globally, more than a thousand varieties of bananas are part of people’s diet, with Cavendish being the most globally traded. | ||||||
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USA: Fresh Del Monte ramps up defenses as disease threatens world banana crops |  |
PANAMA: Business sector celebrates return of banana transnational Chiquita | ||||
| Shifting climate patterns, particularly warmer temperatures combined with humidity are accelerating the spread of diseases in key growing regions. | Chiquita’s return to the western province of Bocas del Toro—expected no later than February 2026—is a sign of international confidence in the isthmus and a key boost for the local economy. | ||||||
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VIETNAM: Europeans have taste for Vietnamese passion fruit, mango |  |
TURKEY: Mango feast delights Pakistani event attendees in Istanbul | ||||
| Vinafruit reported that in the first half of 2025, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports to the EU reached more than USD233 million, up 44.1% from the same period last year. | Pakistan produces 185,000 metric tons of mangoes each year, with exports going to the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and the United States. | ||||||
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BANGLADESH: Mango exports get global glow-up with hot water treatment plants |  |
BRAZIL: Mangos are the third most exported fruit | ||||
| The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has approved the construction of 10 state-of-the-art Hot Water Treatment (HWT) plants in Chapainawabganj. | Brazil has consolidated itself as a leading fruit exporter, with shipments surpassing one million tons in 2024 and generating over US$1.2 billion. | ||||||
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MALAYSIA: Sarawak To Start Exporting SG-1 Pineapples To China, Singapore Next Year |  |
GHANA: New MD2 pineapple launches in markets globally | ||||
| Sarawak will begin exporting its own pineapple variety, SG-1 or Sarawak Gold-1, to China and Singapore in 2026. | Building on the success of the Elefante Green Gold sugar loaf pineapple, the company has expanded its portfolio with the Elefante Sweet Gold™. | ||||||
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NORTH MACEDONIA: Costa Rica pineapples up to 7 times cheaper than local fruits |  |
MYANMAR: 40,000 tons of pineapples ready for export | ||||
| North Macedonia currently has a large supply of pineapples imported from Costa Rica, over 10,500 km away. | Arrangements are being made to export over 40,000 tonnes of Myanmar pineapples abroad during the 2025-2026 financial year. | ||||||
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SOUTH KOREA: Smart farms grow papayas locally as Koreans go bananas for tropical fruits |  |
BANGLADESH: DAE hopes USD32.8M papaya trade amid farming expansion in Tangail | ||||
| Korea’s smart farms are making papayas and mangoes a local affair, as tropical fruits go upscale to meet growing appetites for premium, homegrown produce. | Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is looking at the potential for a trade turnover of papaya amounting to around USD32.8M crore this season amid farming expansion in the district. | ||||||
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USD: Florida research focuses on resilient tropical fruits |  |
INDIA: Scientific Papaya Cultivation for ensuring Livelihood Security of Tribal Farmers | ||||
| Research at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) aims to provide solutions through breeding and genetics. | The Papaya being one of the important fruits crops in Jharkhand is mainly grown in thavocado e backyard gardens of the houses in the state. | ||||||
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MALAYSIA: Sabah avocado target still way off |  |
SPAIN: Westfalia Fruit to show the future of Avocados at Fruit Attraction 2025 | ||||
| Avocado cultivation in Sabah still need a few more years to meet the market demand. | Westfalia will unveil its unprecedented avocado variety library, the largest of its kind in the world. | ||||||
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CHINA: Avocados carry significant story of cooperation with South Africa |  |
NEW ZEALAND: A bumper avocado crop pushes prices down | ||||
| Fresh avocados, picked from the orchards of South Africa, could reach Chinese consumers within a very short period of time. | It’s a great time for avocado lovers, but not so much for growers of the fruit as prices reach as low as USD0.11 in parts of the country. | ||||||
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VIETNAM: Durian export prices surge 20% as supply tightens |  |
THAILAND: New rules require full documentation for all frozen durian imports and exports | ||||
| Durian export prices have risen by 20% from last month as supply dwindles amid the government’s intensified efforts to comply with China’s quality requirements. | The Agriculture Ministry now requires traders to submit documents for all frozen durian imports and exports to prevent re-labelling, strengthen Thai standards. | ||||||
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CAMEROON: Farmer enriches local tables in “Africa in miniature” with Asian fruits |  |
MALAYSIA: Giving mangosteen ‘queen treatment’ to reverse declining yield | ||||
| On a 10-hectare fruit farm in the Souza locality of Cameroon’s Littoral Region, a gentle rain softens the earth and coats trees in shimmering droplets. | The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry is considering pairing Musang King durian and mangosteen as Malaysia’s official “king” and “queen” of fruits. | ||||||
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INDIA: Kerala’s rambutan riches turn sour as prices decline |  |
CHINA: Zhanjiang lychees reach Belarus, Qatar for first time | ||||
| Farmers are reluctant to harvest the fruits as the low prices do not cover labor and transport costs. | Companies from Guangdong have sold lychee to Belarus and Qatar for the first time this year. | ||||||
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EMERGING AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES IN TROPICAL FRUITS
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Avocado scanner assesses the ripeness of avocado fruits. |  |
How PeelOn’s Green Packaging Keeps Bananas Yellow For Longer | ||||
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Biodegradable packaging film from watermelon rind pectin and pineapple peel nanocellulose. |  |
Eurofruit JBT Marel introduces ProDose Pineapple to revolutionise fresh pineapple preservation | ||||
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RECENT LITERATURE ON TROPICAL FRUIT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
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| Analysis of selected diploid banana genotypes for resistance to weevil damage and pollen quantity as key elements of banana breeding Kemigisa, Juliet, et al. Frontiers Plant Science (2025)Regulatory role of calcium sulfide in ripening delay of postharvest bananas Xu, H., et al Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences (2025) DOI Real-Time Disease Identification of Banana Plants Using Neural Network Models |
Shelf-life extension of fresh-cut mango by coating with cactus extract Todhanakasem, T., et al. Applied Food Research (2025) DOICombined effects of calcium sources and water restriction on fruit yield and quality of ‘Ataulfo’ and ‘Kent’ mangoes Rodrigues, L.S. et al. Frontiers in Plant Science (Aug 2025) DOI Effect of UV-A light dehydration on micronutrients of mango and apple: A comprehensive metabolomic study |
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| Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) associated with papaya and the first record of Empoasca prona Davidson & DeLong infesting the plant. Martins, D., et al Pesquisa Agropecuária Tropical (2025)Response of Various Input Use Technologies for Enhancing the Productivity of Papaya Chinnasamy, K., et al Applied Fruit Science (2025) DOI Efficacy of Tithonia diversifolia and NPK fertilizers on papaya seedling growth in marginal soils |
The impact of curdlan on the physical, microstructure, and sensory properties of pineapple jam Shin-Yong, Y., et al Food Quality and Safety (2025) DOISystematic analysis of the Aux/IAA gene family in pineapple reveals insights into their structural diversity, expression dynamics, and interaction networks Wang, L., et al BMC Plant Biology DOI A small-scale target enhancement framework for aerial pineapple images on accurate agricultural information |
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| The Dark Side of Avocados: A Review of Anthracnose and Stem-End Rot in Postharvest Fruit Bernal, V.V., et al Frontiers in Microbiology (2025) DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1644061Comparative Analysis of Bioactive Compounds in Colombian Caribbean Avocados and Hass: Exploring Metabolomic Diversity Rodriguez, P. et al ACS Food Science and Technology (2025) DOI Integrated HPLC and transcriptomic analyses provide insights into soluble sugar changes during postharvest fruit ripening across 134 avocado germplasms |
Identification of the causal agents of guava scab disease (GSD) and evaluation of the control efficacy of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens to GSD Ya-Zhen, X., et al Journal of Agriculture and Food Research (2025) DOIUtilizing E-nose for detection of mealybug infestation and ripeness of durian Chiu, C., et al. Plant Biology (2025) DOI Preparation and Characterization– of Lactic Acid Bacteria Composite Fresh-Keeping Material and Its Application in Passion Fruit Preservation |
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