The Sunburn Doctor Is In
Meet Larry Schrader, the sunburn doctor. You won't be visiting him after your next trip to the beach, but he might pay a house call if you're a Washington tree fruit grower. Well, make that an orchard call.
 Larry Schrader holds an apple skin temperature sensor that he developed. |
"Sunburn of apple," says Schrader, "costs growers millions of dollars annually." In fruit, as in humans, sunburn is the death or discoloration of skin cells from ultraviolet rays. Another factor in fruit sunburn is high fruit surface temperature caused by both solar radiation and high air temperature.
To combat the resulting damage, Schrader developed RAYNOX®, a carnauba wax-based spray that reduces sunburn by about 50 percent. The treatment has saved Washington apple growers at least $10 million a year since 2004, and is now also benefiting growers in other countries.
Before RAYNOX®, some growers used overhead misting of irrigation water to provide apples with evaporative cooling, or EC, to reduce fruit surface temperature and sunburn.
"The problem is," Schrader says, "growers don't know when to turn on the EC or when to turn it off." As a result, most growers use way more water than they need to and still may not prevent sunburn.
Enter the sunburn doctor with the fruit-surface temperature sensor. Schrader calls the device an "artificial apple" which, placed in an orchard, provides an accurate estimate of the surface temperature of sun-basking fruit.
"It took some time to develop just the right color and the right contents to simulate a real apple. The prototype is very close to a real apple surface," Schrader says.
The sensor informs growers about when to apply RAYNOX® or turn on the EC. Growers get more pack-out per acre and use less water. "It's a win-win," says Schrader.
Video
Watch a short video featuring Dr. Larry Schrader talking about the sensor he developed.
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