10/17/06 RediRipe

RediRipe sounds more like a baby wipe then a fruit sticker but like a new baby the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission's tiny sticker is ripe with enough promise that the groups has invested considerable dollars to test the RediRipe on this crop of Washington State Apples. Determining when an apple is ripe both on the farm and in storage has proved difficult and costly. Ripeness testing inefficiencies have cost growers upwards of $300 million a year and that's prior to shipping. RediRipe developed by a University of Arizona professor is unique in that it gages ethylene gas the chemical that fruit release as it ripens, causing the sticker on ripe fruit to turn from white to blue . If RediRipe proves successful, just like a good apple it will move from the packer to supermarket shelves where one day it is anticipated that we consumers will simply look at a sticker to pick the freshest fruit. While RediRipe sounds like a baby wipe in reality is more like a "preg" test for fruit.