fruits are harvested. They have among others
established protocols for when varieties
such as “Wonderful”, “Acco” and “Herskowitz”
should be harvested, what the best packaging
materials and methods are, what the optimum
storage conditions should be and testing ways
to increase shelf life.
“South Africa competes with countries such
as Chile and Argentina to supply in the
off-season demand for pomegranates for
consumers in the Northern Hemisphere,” says
Prof Opara, who is recognised globally as the
leading researcher on pomegranate-related
postharvest technology. “If we can provide
excellent science, we can help our producers
gain an edge.”
Opara and his multi-disciplinary research
team have already contributed a wealth of
knowledge about best practices to South
Africa’s emerging pomegranate industry. The
past 6 years have also seen the graduation of
20 MSc students and 14 PhD students from
a variety of interdisciplinary fields – from
food science to engineering and horticulture.
These efforts are not only funded through
the Department of Science and Technology’s
South African Research Chair Initiative, but
also through the Postharvest Innovation
Fund, the Pomegranate Growers’ Association
of South Africa (POMASA), the Perishable
Products’ Export Control Board and Biogold
International (Ltd).
In pursuit of their PhDs
Just because their work is about fruit isn’t
to say that it is frivolous or was easy to do.
Their supervisors expected the highest
Dr Ebrahiema Arendse
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
possible standards from them, and that as
many findings and suggestions as possible
are published to the benefit of the scientific
community and the industry alike.
Dr Arendse and Dr Assefa recall many late
nights and early mornings in the laboratory, to
ensure that their experiments are completed
timeously and properly, and that all the
necessary readings and data are gathered so
that they can substantiate their suggestions to
industry with good science.
“There are a few blankets and pillows in
one of the offices, in case you have to sleep
over while you wait for your experiments to
be completed,” Dr Arendse lets slip. “It has
happened quite often.”
Working with pomegranates can also be more
labour-intensive than is probably the case with
many other fruits. First there is the challenge
of opening the fruit and extracting the arils so
that these can be examined.
“Even when you get the hang of it, it can still
take a minimum of 20 minutes to release all
the arils from one fruit,” says Dr Arendse. “And
it can cause quite a skin irritation,” adds Dr
Belay.
“We have spoilt many white lab coats during
our studies,” says Dr Arendse. “The juice
doesn’t wash out easily, and stains the
material.”
Quality control without having to cut fruit
open:
Dr Arendse matriculated from Athlone High
School in 2002. His aunt, a lecturer in nursing,
Dr Zinash Belay
57