Naturo All Natural Technologies, an Australian food technology company, has developed world-first technology which is intended to revolutionize the global avocado market and create a significant impact in the associated food services, retail, and manufacturing industries. The technology addresses some of the biggest obstacles currently facing the avocado industry, namely the fruit’s short life span and its reputation for unsightly browning once cut. The Australian invention not only stops the browning of cut (or pulped) avocado fruit for a minimum of 10 days when refrigerated (even after packaging is opened), but does so using a 100 percent natural process which preserves the nutritional properties and taste of the avocado without chemicals, additives, preservatives, or processing aids.
The secret of Naturo’s Natavo Zero technology, lies in the company’s ability to switch off the enzyme responsible for the fruit’s browning via pressure fluctuations generated by steam. The end result is 100 percent natural avocado.
An important advantage of the Natavo Zero process is the elimination of potential pathogens beyond the limits set by the strictest international safety codes. This ensures that all Natavo Zero treated products are completely safe for the consumer.
Until the arrival of Natavo Zero, food safety had always been a major concern for the avocado processing industry. Safe processed products could only be produced using very expensive high pressure processing technology and even then it could only be applied to avocado pulp (not cut avocados). The problem of fruit browning remained. Natavo Zero offers a safe and affordable processing solution which meets all food safety standards required to export avocado products to some of the fastest growing overseas markets including the U.S., Asia, and Europe.
The technology is capable of processing any cut of avocado or avocado pulp at the rate of about 4,000 avocado fruits per hour providing cost-effective, energy efficient, and reliable processing via a machine Naturo has named the “Avocado Time Machine.” Each machine is designed and manufactured by Naturo to the customer’s specific requirements and can be shipped anywhere in the world.
After spending four years on research and development of the worldwide patented technology and founding their company late last year, Naturo’s directors, Frank Schreiber and Jeff Hastings said that now was the time to launch their Avocado Time Machine to the world.
Hastings said that the technology has the potential to become the new industry standard. “By understanding the avocado’s lifecycle and the complex correlation of enzymes involved in the browning process, we have made it possible for the world to enjoy 100 percent natural, ready-to-eat avocado slices, dices, chunks, or pulped products while retaining the flavor and fresh taste of avocado, without browning. All products stay fresh for a minimum of 10 days when refrigerated, even after the packaging has been opened. That is very good news for the avocado industry and for the consumer.”
“An Australian company has already secured the opportunity to be the first processor to use the technology and we expect they will be producing avocado products later this year,” said Schreiber.
Leave a Reply