Mo Li

Thesis Title
Developing non-destructive techniques to predict 'Hayward' kiwifruit storability

Read article at Massey Research Online:

A significant portion of New Zealand's kiwifruit production is held as stock in local coolstores for extended periods of time before being exported. Many pre-harvest factors contribute to variation in fruit quality at harvest and during coolstorage, and result in difficulty segregating fruit based on anticipated storage outcomes. The ability to make predictions about fruit with low storage potential at harvest could enable fruit to be sold earlier in the season reducing total fruit loss and improving profitability later in the season. Ms Li investigated the use of non-destructive sensing techniques at harvest, and developed a model to predict storability of individual or batches of 'Hayward' kiwifruit based on (near) skin properties. Predictions based on the model achieved 30 percent reduction in soft fruit after storage. Applied in the industry to enable sequential marketing, significant cost savings could be achieved by reducing fruit loss, repacking and condition checking costs.

Supervisors
Professor Andrew East
Professor Ian Yule
Dr Reddy Pullanagari

Li, M., Pullanagari, R.R., Pranamornkith, T., Yule I.J., East, A.R. (2016). Applying visible-near infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy to classify cv. ‘Hayward’ kiwifruit firmness after storage. Acta Horticulturae (In press)

Li, M., Verboven, P., Buchsbaum, A., Cantre, D., Nicolai, B., Heyes, J., Mowat, A., East, A. (2015). Characterising kiwifruit (Actinidia sp.) near skin cellular structures using optical coherence tomography. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 110, 247-256.

Li, M., East, A.R., Verboven, P., Buchsbaum, A., Nicolaï, B., Heyes, J.A. (2015). Development of an optical coherence tomography image analysis method to characterise cellular structure of kiwifruit. Acta Horticulturae (In press)

Mohamed, S., Li, M., Flint, S., Palmer, J., & Fletcher, G. C. (2012). Effect of water activity and temperature on the germination and growth of Aspergillus tamarii isolated from “Maldive fish”. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 160(2), 119-123.