PRESS RELEASE

Chicago - Hazel Technologies Inc., a company developing new, USDA-funded post-harvest technologies to extend shelf-life in fresh produce, announces a successful commercial study completed with Oregon State University’s Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center located in Hood River, Oregon. 

The study focused on better understanding the benefits of Hazel® Pear packing inserts on D’Anjou Pears in storage. The trial lasted for 31 days and tracked 5 key quality metrics: firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids content, ethylene production, and index of absorbance difference, an industry standard method to measure color retention. 

Following 31 days of treatment, pears protected with Hazel® Pear packaging had approximately 3x higher firmness, 3x lower ethylene production, and about 2.5x more color retention, compared to unprotected control at standard pear storage conditions. 

“In this trial, we found that D’Anjou pears with Hazel® Pear packaging had significantly higher firmness than control pears following 31 days. Hazel Tech pears also had lower color loss and lower ethylene production following 31 days,” commented Yu Dong, Ph.D., a horticulture post-doctoral research associate at Oregon State University. 

"This trial with Oregon State has allowed us to further learn and develop our technology for pears. We are eager to continue securing academic validations of our technologies,” commented Adam Preslar, Ph.D., CTO and Co-Founder at Hazel Technologies, Inc. 

Focusing on continuing academic and technical development has been an important strategic approach for Hazel Technologies. Hazel Tech announced successful collaborations with Universities such as Cornell and UC-Davis in 2018, studying crops such as cherries, pears, and apricots. 

In a related move to further develop trial research, Hazel Tech has announced the addition of Natalia Param Agurto as a new Post-Harvest Laboratory Manager. Param Agurto formerly held positions as an agronomist and post-harvest scientist at the Chilean Kiwi Fruit Committee, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and FruitQualitas SpA. 

To learn more, e-mail pat@hazeltechnologies.com or visit www.hazeltechnologies.com.