Fremont, Calif. – June 9, 2010 – Purfresh, a provider of clean technologies that purify, protect, and preserve our food and water, today announced that Cowan Orchards, a family business that grows apples and pears in the Pacific Northwest, has experienced significant decreases in physical damage from sunburn with Purshade-O® solar plant protectant on multiple varieties of apples including Galas, Braeburns, Red Delicious, and Cameos. Purshade was scientifically engineered to provide superior protection against the damaging effects of solar stress. Based on patent-pending Advanced Reflectance Technology™ (ART™), Purshade reflects harmful wavelengths of solar radiation such as ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR), while allowing transmission of sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis.
“I have tried other products in the past, but no other product has provided the flexibility, performance, and usability of Purshade-O,” said Mr. Robert Cowan, owner of Cowan Orchards. “Purshade-O is easy to mix, apply, and remove. It doesn’t cover the natural color or interfere with color picking, it leaves minimal residue, and can be used on both conventional and organic crops. The Pacific Northwest is a very harsh environment to grow apples, and we can’t afford to lose any production to solar stress. I’ll be using Purshade again this season.”
The impact of solar stress on apples has been evaluated extensively in studies conducted throughout the world. In the U.S. alone, sunburn-related cullage rates average 10 to 25 percent and cost the industry more than $100 million every year. Rated among the top three reasons for cullage, solar stress can damage the fruit surface with white, yellow, bronze, and brown discoloration, and can occur even in normal temperatures and growing conditions.
“Organic growers face unique challenges in protecting their crops—and in many cases, they have fewer options for crop protection or are forced to use less effective products. Not so with Purshade-O,” said Mr. Tom Justmann, general manager, plant health group for Purfresh. “We designed our Purshade-O product to provide the same level of protection as our conventional Purshade, but in an OMRI certified formulation. In the case of Cowan Orchards, Purshade-O not only met his needs for solar protection it also enabled him to simplify his crop management program by using only one product to protect his entire orchard.”
The Purshade family of products includes a formulation for use on conventional crops as well as a formulation that is approved for organic production by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), and has been reviewed by the Institute for Marketecology (IMO) and BCS Chile. The liquid formulations are easy to mix, can be applied with standard spray equipment, and provide for easy wash-off.
Source: Purfresh Inc.