University of Florida Research Demonstrates Significant Tomato Results with Verdant™ Technologies

The emerg­ing leader in ag tech inno­va­tion can help increase shelf life of grape toma­toes by more than 25 per­cent with its nov­el Har­vestHold Fresh® solution.

Den­ver, Col­orado. (August 24, 2022) A recent study by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da Insti­tute of Food and Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ence (UF-IFAS) found the shelf-life of grape toma­toes can be dra­mat­i­cal­ly improved using an inno­v­a­tive posthar­vest solu­tion by Ver­dant™ Tech­nolo­gies. The research team, led by Dr. Steven A. Sar­gent, con­duct­ed a vari­ety of tests on grape toma­toes, exam­in­ing the firm­ness, col­or, weight reten­tion, and decay of toma­toes treat­ed with Verdant’s Har­vestHold Fresh®. Upon com­ple­tion of the study, Har­vestHold Fresh demon­strat­ed mea­sur­ably sig­nif­i­cant ben­e­fits com­pared to the untreat­ed control.

“The grape toma­toes treat­ed with Har­vestHold Fresh reduced weight loss by 50 per­cent, main­tained firm­ness dur­ing cold stor­age, extend­ed firm­ness when brought to room tem­per­a­ture, and had 25 per­cent less decay com­pared to the untreat­ed toma­toes,” says Dr. Sar­gent, pro­fes­sor of posthar­vest hor­ti­cul­ture at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Florida.

The research team con­duct­ing the tri­al includ­ed Dr. Sar­gent, co-inves­ti­ga­tor Dr. Jef­frey Brecht, and post­doc­tor­al research asso­ciate Dr. Shirin Shahkoomahally.

Har­vestHold Fresh was intro­duced in Sep­tem­ber 2021 as an inno­v­a­tive shelf-life exten­sion solu­tion pro­vid­ing a sim­ple and flex­i­ble posthar­vest prod­uct to the pro­duce indus­try. Through its pro­pri­etary deliv­ery method of indus­try-stan­dard 1‑methylcyclopropene (1‑MCP), Har­vestHold Fresh can be applied wher­ev­er and when­ev­er it’s need­ed most in the sup­ply chain and requires no cat­a­lysts or spe­cial equipment. 

“The research con­duct­ed by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da will play a vital role in help­ing grow­ers around the world see and expe­ri­ence the ben­e­fits of Har­vestHold Fresh,” says Gor­don Robert­son, CEO of Ver­dant Tech­nolo­gies. “It’s esti­mat­ed near­ly a third of fresh toma­toes pur­chased in the U.S. are thrown out. Har­vestHold Fresh is pro­vid­ing grow­ers and the pro­duce indus­try a sim­ple solu­tion that adds val­ue by reduc­ing waste through­out the entire val­ue chain, ulti­mate­ly result­ing in a bet­ter expe­ri­ence for the consumer.”

In addi­tion to the tri­al on grape toma­toes, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da research team is eval­u­at­ing the impact of Har­vestHold Fresh on oth­er crops, includ­ing cucum­bers, broc­coli, and let­tuce. 

“We’ve been inter­est­ed in learn­ing how Har­vestHold per­forms on var­i­ous crops,” adds Dr. Sar­gent. “Our tri­als are prov­ing the unique­ness of this solu­tion and we are excit­ed to share more results of our addi­tion­al tri­als in the com­ing months.”

Ver­dant Tech­nolo­gies recent­ly announced approval from the U.S. Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agency (EPA) of an expand­ed label for Har­vestHold Fresh, open­ing the door for more than 30 fruits and veg­eta­bles to ben­e­fit from its appli­ca­tion. The expand­ed label also includes flex­i­bil­i­ty for recy­cling Har­vestHold Fresh sheets after application. 

Ver­dant Tech­nolo­gies is cur­rent­ly con­duct­ing busi­ness in Mex­i­co, Colom­bia, and the Unit­ed States. The com­pa­ny has received U.S. state approvals for Har­vestHold Fresh in 49 states, with antic­i­pa­tion of approval in Cal­i­for­nia by late 2022.