Sakata Promotes Melon With Long Shelf Life

Posted by Rosemary Gordon|July 22, 2015

Sakata Seed America’s Infinite Gold LSL (Long Shelf Life) melon offers long shelf life and high-yield potential, according to the company. The melon is valued for its holding ability in the field, allowing more flexibility when it comes to harvest, long-distance transportation, and prolonged freshness.

“Infinite Gold is the next big thing in cantaloupes, where strong performance meets great fruit quality,” stated Gattis Guffey, senior melon product development manager at Sakata. “Over the past 10 years, cantaloupes have been limited to one or two of the following attributes — durability, yield, or flavor. Infinite Gold delivers all three of these, which means growers and suppliers no longer have to sacrifice one for the other.”

The long shelf life characteristics of Infinite Gold help to provide growers with some flexibility in harvest timing based on weather, market prices, or the availability of labor. They can be harvested in as little as two to three trips, as opposed to seven or eight for Western Shipper types. Fewer passes save money on fertilizer, use less water and require fewer people and machines, also reducing the risk of contamination and minimizing food safety hazards, according to Sakata.

Typically, developing an LSL melon had to come at the cost of overall flavor, but not anymore. Infinite Gold offers rich flavor and deep coloring. In fact, the flavor of Infinite Gold has ranked higher than the leading competition in flavor, texture, aroma and overall quality in two separate third-party research studies.

“What we have done is develop a premium melon that provides benefits at all levels of the supply chain,” Guffey said. “Not only do growers experience the benefits, but packers, shippers, foodservice distributors, processors, retailers, and consumers all reap the rewards. At Sakata, we believe in Infinite Gold and we’re committed to educating all levels of the industry and the consumer about its amazing benefits.”