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2 CapitalPress.com August 12, 2016 People & Places Keeping apples fresh in storage Jim Mattheis develops a game changing protocol for industry Western Innovator Capital Press Paradigm shift Extending the quality and shelf life of apples by using 1-MCP has represented a “paradigm shift” as signif- icant to the industry as the development of controlled-at- mosphere storage in the 1960s, Jim McFerson, director of the Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Exten- sion Center, has said. No one can really pinpoint how much, but it’s safe to say it’s added millions of dollars in grower returns since wide- spread usage began in 2004. AgroFresh Inc. of Spring House, Pa., released it commer- cially as SmartFresh in 2002. “Jim and his program team have not only been world lead- ers in developing robust ap- proaches to using SmartFresh technology, but have consis- tently kept our Paciic North- west tree fruit industry on the cutting edge of technological innovations in fruit handling and storage that enhance our ability to deliver the consumer a consistently superior eating experience,” McFerson said. As the laboratory’s leader Jim Mattheis Age: 59 Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Born: Sioux Falls, S.D. Raised: Lennox, S.D. Family: Wife, Darcee, is a social worker. Their son, Carl, 21, is training to be- come an aircraft mechanic. Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., 1979; master’s degree in public health, University of Minnesota, 1981; doctorate in horticulture, Washington State University, 1987. Dan Wheat/Capital Press Jim Mattheis, plant physiologist at the USDA Agriculture Research Service Tree Fruit Research Laboratory in Wenatchee, Wash., removes a sample of ethylene gas from the core of an apple. Over 20 years, Mattheis has developed the use of a synthetic molecule that inhibits ethylene to keep apples fresh longer. for 14 years, Mattheis has guid- ed it to a “pre-eminent position in tree fruit physiology and soil- borne diseases,” he said. Mattheis works well with the industry and the “industry would not be the same without his work,” McFerson said. Mattheis oversees four other scientists and a support staff of 32 graduate students, post doc- toral researchers and visiting scientists. Roots of research “1-MCP is a product of a really long period of funda- mental plant science research that started in the 1960s,” Mattheis said. Ed Sisler, a biochemist at North Carolina State Uni- versity, began studying how growth and development are regulated in plants. He was interested in ethylene, a nat- ural compound produced by plants, that causes fruit ma- turity and ripening. It’s often produced as a protection in response to stress such as that caused by a wound. “He was testing a lot of different compounds that had some sort of similarity to eth- ylene to see if he could pro- mote or block responses to ethylene,” Mattheis said. Sisler and his colleague, Sylvia Blankenship, a horti- culturist at NC State, identi- ied 1-MCP as an inhibitor of various ethylene responses in plants. Mattheis had spent his irst 10 years at the ARS Tree Fruit Research Laboratory in Wenatchee developing con- trolled-atmosphere storage regimens for new apple va- rieties such as Gala, Fuji and Braeburn. He was interested in postharvest environmental factors impacting apple aro- ma. He determined that eth- ylene is important to aroma and was interested in the NC State indings. “Sylvia had been working in apples so we were both in- terested in studying 1-MCP with apples and collaborated on work beginning in March 1997,” Mattheis said. Xuetong Fan, a post-doc- toral scientist on Mattheis’ staff, did most of the labora- tory work. Mattheis and Blan- kenship published a joint pa- per on their indings in 1999 — the irst regarding 1-MCP and apples. What 1-MCP does SmartFresh is applied as a non-toxic gas shortly after apples enter controlled-atmo- sphere storage, biodegrades and is gone shortly after ap- plication. It is highly effective at low concentrations. Treatment maintains apple acids, retaining lavor, irm- ness and freshness. A residu- al effect of delayed ripening can last several weeks after fruit is taken from storage and shipped to retailers. Studies of apples in gro- cery stores in 2007 by Eugene Kupferman, a postharvest specialist at the WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, showed SmartFresh actually increases the irm- ness of apples during the sales season. 1-MCP is also effective in preventing supericial scald, which is a browning of apple skin. By delaying ripening, 1-MCP also delays several in- ternal browning disorders re- lated to ripening such as core browning in Granny Smith apples, Mattheis said. In the last several years, a ield formulation of Smart- Fresh has been used in or- chards to manage harvest timing by delaying it and to prevent premature apple drop. “It prevents premature drop, slows maturation and can be applied close to har- vest. Other materials only prevent drop without slowing maturation,” Mattheis said. On the downside, 1-MCP can lengthen the amount of time fruit is susceptible to carbon dioxide injury such as skin and internal browning and rough skin. To reduce that threat, carbon dioxide can be aggressively removed from storage atmosphere and con- trolled-atmosphere storage can be delayed after 1-MCP treatment. Delay of 1-MCP is a strategy for some varieties. 1-MCP does not meet re- quirements for organic fruit, which relies on low oxy- gen concentrations in con- trolled-atmosphere for best storage. Ongoing research In recent years, packers and shippers have begun us- ing ozone to combat bacteria and external decay on fruit in storage. Depending on the concentration, ozone can in- activate ethylene and slow ripening. It can be used with 1-MCP or in place of it. Mattheis is in his 19th year of 1-MCP research. He is the main scientist in Washing- ton working on apple storage regimens. He re-tweaks those regimens, including use of 1-MCP, for various apple va- rieties to it new technologies. An example is making the regimen for Honeycrisp it with a relatively new tech- nology that measures fruit response to controlled-atmo- sphere storage. “It used to be a warehouse would impose (controlled at- mosphere) and hope it works. Occupation, work history: Plant physiologist, USDA Agriculture Research Service Tree Fruit Research Laboratory, Wenatchee, Wash., since 1988; labora- tory research leader since 2002. By JANAE SARGENT Capital Press Janae Sargent/Capital Press Mikaela Bruer shows off her goat at her family’s property in Dallas, Ore. alpacas at the Polk County Fair on Aug. 11. Bruer lives on her family property that was started by her great-great-grandfather. Her dream is to study veterinary medicine at Cornell Universi- ty and become a large-animal veterinarian that specializes in dairy animals. Bruer said she has a deep love for animals and pageantry and she loves being an example of how the two can go together. In addition to being Miss Oregon Teen USA and compet- ing in pageants, Bruer is in 4-H, FFA and is a model and a com- petitive golfer and archer. She maintains above a 4.0 grade- point average. She said she uses her po- sition in the spotlight to break down stereotypes about the ag- riculture industry and pageant- ry and show how the things she does overlap. “Pageantry and agriculture both have stereotypes that go with them,” Bruer said. “I want to show people no matter which side of the spectrum you’re on, they can go together.” Bruer got her start in 4-H when she was 9 years old, following her mother, Denise McCormick, who raised sheep when growing up. She started with horticulture and cooking but quickly fell in love with animals and got her Entire contents copyright © 2016 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing ofices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. To Reach Us Toll free ............................. 800-882-6789 Main line ........................... 503-364-4431 Fax ................................... 503-370-4383 Advertising Fax ................ 503-364-2692 News Staff Now there are several ways, two in real-time, to measure response to low oxygen in particular,” he said. Six years ago, his regi- men to lengthen Honeycrisp storage was to hold the fruit for one week after harvest at 50 degrees and then drop it to 36 degrees while keeping carbon dioxide at 1 percent or less and oxygen at 2 percent. That enabled storage for nine months. Three years ago, Mattheis found that if Honeycrisp is treated with 1-MCP at 50 de- grees it reduces bitter pit but if controlled atmosphere is turned on bitter pit is reduced even more. That hadn’t been done be- cause fruit tends to have more problems with low oxygen the higher the temperature is. To assess whether Honey- crisp has a problem with low oxygen at 50 degrees, Mat- theis will be using a pulse of light to measure chlorophyll luorescence in fruit skin. If it’s too low the oxygen level needs to be raised. The research goes on. It has been fulilling. “When I went to gradu- ate school and learned about fruit development, matu- ration and ripening, this wasn’t something I antici- pated,” Mattheis said. “You can do a lot of great science and no one really benefits. But there’s been a great ben- efit from 1-MCP.” Miss Oregon Teen USA at home on the farm Mikaela Bruer says she is using her title as Miss Oregon Teen USA to educate and in- spire young people about agri- culture. The 17-year-old from Dal- las, Ore., competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant in Las Ve- gas, Nev., on July 29-30 where she placed 16th. Though most contestants re- turned home and began wind- ing down from the chaos of the national pageant, Bruer started prepping to show her goats, dairy cows, market steer and Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate oficer John Perry Chief operating oficer By DAN WHEAT WENATCHEE, Wash. — When Jim Mattheis was a boy in Lennox, S.D., he was curi- ous about his friend’s family’s orchard: It didn’t produce any apples. It wasn’t a commercial or- chard. It was just a small, home orchard that had been neglect- ed for years. The trees hadn’t been pruned or sprayed. Spring frosts took their toll. Finding an apple was a novelty. The orchard didn’t bear much fruit but it did spawn an interest in horticulture in young Mattheis. Half a century later, Mattheis, now 59, is regarded as a transformative innovator by the apple industry. As a plant physiologist and research leader at the USDA Agriculture Research Service Tree Fruit Research Laborato- ry, Mattheis has been the key igure in the testing and devel- opment of the synthetic mol- ecule 1-methylcyclopropene — also called 1-MCP — which slows the ripening of apples to keep them fresher longer in storage. Industry packers and shippers worldwide have used it for 12 years, and Mattheis keeps reining best practices for new technologies and new ap- ple varieties. Capital Press irst Norwegian dwarf goats when she was 12. Her start in pageants was less conventional. McCormick said she started Bruer in pag- eants when she was 6 to en- courage her out of her shell and get used to public speaking and making connections. “I was painfully shy when I was a kid,” McCormick said. “I just wanted to start her young and teach her to be more out- going.” Bruer started going to one pageant a year but quickly fell in love with pageantry and be- gan traveling the world to com- pete and model. N. 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Threshing, binding and baling oats using vintage farm equipment, horses and mules; “Pa- rade of Power” tractor parade at 1 p.m. each day; pioneer kids’ activ- ities, pedal tractors and petting an- imals. $5 admission, kids under 12 are free. www.yamhillcountyhistory. org Oregon Cannabis Growers Fair, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Oregon State Fair- grounds, 2330 17th St. NE, Salem. Over age 21 only. https://oregon- cannabisgrowersfair.com/ Tuesday, Aug. 16 Oregon Soil and Water Com- mission Meeting, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Hilton Garden Inn, 3528 Gateway St., Springield, Ore. www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/ NaturalResources/SWCD/Pages/ SWCC.aspx GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com Tuesday-Thursday Aug. 16-18 Practical Food Safety & HAC- CP Workshop. This is a compre- hensive, three-day workshop, designed for those individuals responsible for implementing and managing a HACCP system in a food manufacturing facility. Partic- ipants who pass a final test will re- ceive a certificate of completion. Idaho Water Center, 322 E. Front St., Boise, Idaho. Cost: $650. www.techhelp.org/events/273/ practical-food-safety-haccp-work- shop-august-16-18-in-boise/ 20 Northwest Locations Friday, Aug. 19 8th Annual Friends of Oregon Agriculture Golf Tournament. This annual fund-raiser for Or- egon Aglink’s Adopt-a-Farmer program includes the popular golf ball drop. Chehalem Glenn Golf Course, Newberg, Ore. www.aglink.org Western Idaho Fair, 5610 Glenwood, Boise, 208-287- 5650, http://sharemyfair.com/ Saturday, Aug. 20 Oregon Aglink Barn Dance, 6:30-10:30 p.m. Celebrating Or- egon Aglink’s 50th anniversary. 1-800-765-9055 Victor Point Farms, Silverton, Ore. Cost: $50 www.aglink. org Western Idaho Fair, 5610 Glenwood, Boise, 208-287-5650, http://sharemyfair.com/ Sunday, Aug. 21 Western Idaho Fair, 5610 Glen- wood, Boise, 208-287-5650, http:// sharemyfair.com/ Monday, Aug. 22 Western Idaho Fair, 5610 Glen- wood, Boise, 208-287-5650, http:// sharemyfair.com/ Dairy .....................................11 GE Wheat ............................... 7 Markets ............................... 13 Opinion .................................. 6 Correction policy Accuracy is important to Capital Press staff and to our readers. If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 503-364-4431, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. We want to publish corrections to set the record straight.