by Maarten Gernay, Fresh Plaza
“In the 10 days before the picking of the tree-ripe papayas starts, no pesticides can be used. The sugar content, however, increases together with the ripeness. This attracts a lot of insects. Tree-ripe papayas are 90% ripe when they are picked. When the weather is hot, control of the temperature during packing and transporting becomes more difficult. The papayas are easily bruised. When they are sold, the shelf-life becomes shorter. So losses during production may increase,” explains Mr. Wang from Hainan Guoranxian Industry.
The papaya season in Southern China about to start. With the start of summer, the temperature in Hainan, an island and province at the South coast of China, is steadily rising.
Fluid protects green papayas against insects
Compared to tree-ripe papayas, green papayas do not really suffer from high temperatures. On one hand, green papayas can secrete a fluid that protects its skin and repels insects. On the other hand, the degree of ripeness in green papaya is low. In general, the ripening process is sped up only at the retail stage. The production losses in the whole chain are rather small.
“Because summer tree-ripe papayas are more difficult to handle, we are using two 2 hectares of papaya orchards to try new methods. We hope to continue producing natural tree-ripe papayas. After all, the taste of tree-ripe papayas is better than that of green papayas, and it is also healthier for the consumer. Normally we only pick the fruits on order and deliver them by air transport. This is to ensure that the client has a fresh product and that the consumer gets the best taste.”
Mr. Wang has 10 years of experience in papaya cultivation and manages 34 hectares of papaya orchards. He analyses the market potential of tree-ripe papayas and at the same time watches over the improvements on harvesting and transporting.
Source: Fresh Plaza