National Survey of Research Commercialisation - Australian ...

developed by a company called Hortical, a joint effort between Central Queensland
University and Victorian company Color Vision Systems.
PRODUCT SUCCESS STORIES
Their non-invasive sugar measurement system is based on near-infrared spectroscopy,
and it enables fruit to be graded on sweetness at the packing shed stage. It means that
now, consumers have science to back up eye and feel.
Project leader Kerry Walsh, Associate Professor of Plant Sciences at Central Queensland
University, said that previously, technology had always gone into grading on external
appearance. ‘For farmers, all their effort has gone into growing good-looking fruit, but
there was no index of what’s inside.’
Previously, a French-based company had marketed a system that removed a small
core of fruit, squashed the flesh to measure sugar content, and replaced the skin before
marketing the fruit. It was clearly ‘not a goer’, said Dr Walsh.
‘We run the fruit under the light, it penetrates, and we look at how it is absorbed by the
fruit, and that relates to sugar,’ he said. ‘In many fruits, the higher the sugar content the
better the taste.’
It had to be developed to a point where it could be used under harsh packing shed
conditions, where speed and capacity would be important factors.
The Australian Research Council awarded the university an initial grant of $50,000 in
1997, then continued its support under its collaborative system, whereby research bodies
working with commercial units qualify for funding. Over three years this amounted to
just over $200,000.
Dr Walsh said that although the ARC’s contribution was small in the overall development
cost of roughly $3 million, it was critical in getting the research up and running. By the
turn of the millennium, the system was ready for the marketplace.
‘The year 2000 was the break point between straight R&D and commercialisation,’
he said.
Fruit sorted by Hortical’s system is already used by Australian fruit packhouses through
The Harvest Company, with fruit marketed through Woolworths and Coles, and Dr
Walsh is in the process of examining the viability of exporting the technology.
IMPEDIMED
A Brisbane-based company, Impedimed Pty Ltd, has developed a non-invasive
diagnostic and monitoring instrument for lymphoedema which is four times more
sensitive than any previous test for the condition.
Lymphoedema, which involves a build-up of lymphatic fluid in the body, can be
unsightly and incapacitating. It affects about 30% of women — 1.5 million worldwide —
who undergo breast cancer surgery: in all, about 400,000 Australians suffer from some
form of lymphoedema.
55