Fruit and Vegetable News

Photo: Kiwiberries ready for market. Seth Wannamuehler   Graduate research assistant Seth Wannamuehler receives a lot of questions about kiwiberries. That is because for the last several years, he has been researching kiwiberry production and breeding in Minnesota as part of Dr. Jim Luby's fruit breeding research group. Through this work, he has become one of the most knowledgeable Minnesotans when it comes to this interesting new crop. Growers and gardeners wonder which kiwiberry varieties are available that will have a chance of bearing fruit in Minnesota's climate. He recently published an article in the Minnesota Fruit Research website comparing kiwiberry varieties based on his research observations so far. Since research is very much still ongoing, I have been asked to state that these are not formal recommendations but are still based on strong anecdotal observations. The article also lists places to source plants.  Click here to read "Choosing Kiwiberry Varieties...

Annalisa Hultberg Extension Educator, food safety  While not all produce should be washed during postharvest handling, many items need to be washed to remove soil or to hydrocool to remove field heat from product. It is a best practice use a sanitizer in bulk tanks of wash water to reduce the potential to spread contamination via the water. But can sanitizer also improve the shelf life of produce? We are conducting trials this summer to see. Many farmers note that their produce lasts longer when it is rinsed in water with a sanitizer, but we don't have documentation about the impact of sanitizers on shelf life. The food safety outreach team is conducting trials to see if leafy greens last longer when rinsed in two types of sanitizers vs a rinse in plain water. We know that sanitizers are very effective at inactivating bacteria such as  Salmonella  and  Escherichia coli  O157:H7 that may be present in the water and brought in from the field, hands, compost or oth...