Prolonging the season with Naturcover Melon

The Decco R&D team has developed a treatment to protect the melon skin against oxidation and ageing and reduce rot development. Naturcover Melon is an edible coating that is applied to the surface of the melons to preserve their fresh appearance during marketing and delay the appearance of senescence symptoms. Decco has received very positive feedback from clients who have treated their fruit with Naturcover Melon, as the melons present a considerably better appearance at the end of the storage period, allowing them to be marketed as top quality fruit.

Treatment with Naturcover Melon reduces weight loss and delays the emergence of signs of skin senescence such as excessive yellowing and ochre patches without giving an artificial shine, so it maintains the natural look of the fruit. Naturcover

Melon application is also synergic with fungicide treatment, which considerably reduces the percentage of rots. In some markets it is useful to be able to give the melon a shine to increase its attractiveness. Applying Citrashine Melon when the fruit is packed highlights its colour, cleanness and finish, differentiating the melons the purchasers see.

Another melon treatment that has been showing great results for several seasons now is Deccoshield, a fluid dispersion of micronised calcium carbonate that reduces the stress the crops suffer at high temperatures, an increasingly important protection owing to the steadily hotter summers we are experiencing because of climate change. Its foliar application protects against sunscald, reduces high temperature stress and acts as a barrier against fungi such as mildew and oidium and against chewing parasites.

This article first appeared in edition 143 (May/June 2016) of Eurofresh Distribution magazine. Read more from that issue here: www.eurofresh-distribution.com/magazine/143-2016-mayjune