The Citrus Segment

After every Citrus SA committee meeting, Chair Mark Doecke provides a comprehensive update on the committee's recent activities. In the latest update:

Mike Arnold has been a fruit grower at Waikerie for more than seven decades and he’s been instrumental in the development of the citrus industry nationally, particularly in the areas of propagation and variety improvement. 

Some of his roles over the years have included:

Chairman of Auscitrus after the merging of the Australian Propagation and the Australian Citrus Improvement Associations in 2001 and chair of the Australian Citrus Improvement Society of which he was a founding member.

He’s also a stalwart of his local community in Waikerie, recently recognised by the South Australian Country Fire Service for his 62 years of volunteering. 

His sons have followed in his footprints both with the CFS and horticultural industries, just as he did when he returned to the family farm almost seventy years ago. 

Steve Burdette says Mike has always had a great interest in plant health, variety development and rootstocks. 

“He’s always been an example of how people unselfishly donate their time in not just the best interests of the industry but the growers as well. 

“I think a lot of people totally underestimate what Mike has contributed.” 

Gary Eyles, from Eyles Citrus says Mike has been instrumental in the success of Auscitrus.

“He’s been very passionate about Auscitrus and about having the buds and seeds that Auscitrus produce being clean and being the basis of a nice clean industry here in Australia,” he said.

He’s also well renowned for his love of a very particular desert. 

“If you ever go for dinner with Mike, he invariably asks for icecream and sprinkles, Gary said.

“It’s quite a joke, especially around the Auscitrus board table….to the point where I’ve seen some of the board members bring along some sprinkles, just for Mike.” 

In recent years orange juice has received some negative press due to its perceived high sugar content. 

But researchers at Nutrition Research Australia have been able to provide data from a study, which shows there’s a need to look at the whole product and the benefits it can provide. 

Tim Casserati is the director of translational science at Nutrition Research Australia and says while vitamin C might be the obvious and most well-known health benefit from 100 per cent orange juice – it also contains many micronutrients and anti-inflammatory properties. 

“When we look at the data for 100 per cent juices – all juices, what we find is there is actually more benefit than there is harm,” he said.

“The strongest evidence is that there’s benefits for heart health and anti-inflammatory effects.

“Some of the benefits for heart health was a reduction in blood pressure and also a reduction in inflammatory markers. 

“When we think about juice we automatically think, high sugar, low fibre but when we actually dive into what’s in juice, it’s an incredibly complex mixture of a range of different plant chemicals.

“We know that it has good micronutrients profiles so that’s comparable to whole fruit so that’s things like vitamin C, folate, potassium – we know that these micronutrients can support health.

“Vitamin C has many effects in the body, it can support immunity, while potassium can help lower blood pressure so these micronutrients are high in juice and can play a role in health.”

Mr Casserrati says juice also contains bioactive compounds, particularly polyphenol.

‘These are compounds found in plant foods like fruits and vegetables that give them their flavour and colour and they’re often known as antioxidants, but they have a lot more function in the body than antioxidants,” he said.

“They can have pre-biotic affects which means they can feed the good bugs in our guts, they also can have heart protective properties, anti-diabetic properties or support our brain health. 

“Interestingly, 100 percent orange juice is one of the richest sources of these polyphenols in our diet.”

This podcast is hosted by Kerrie Lush-Robertson and produced by Citrus SA.

Interested to know what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA. After each committee meeting (held on the fourth Tuesday of each month), join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss the issues and activities of the committee over the past month. The latest episode discusses the European earwig project, a season update and much more.

Interested to know what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA. After each committee meeting (held on the fourth Tuesday of each month), join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss the issues and activities of the committee over the past month. In this chat we talk about the expansion of the Sterile Insect Technology facility at Port Augusta which will more than double the amount of flies being produced to control Queensland Fruit Fly in the Riverland. We also cover the QLD Study Tour, upcoming citrus season launch and much more.

Interested to know what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA. After each committee meeting (held on the fourth Tuesday of each month), join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss the issues and activities of the committee over the past month. In this chat we talk about the season ahead, Freshcare audits, fruit fly management and the annual operations plan. We also ask for growers input into what they see as the main priorities for the next financial year.

Wondering what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA? After each committee meeting,  join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss a few of the issues, progress and activity of the committee over the past month. 

It will come as no surprise to growers that albedo breakdown is quite widespread this season across the three major growing areas.

At a Citrus SA seminar late last month, former citrus researcher Michael Treeby said it was improbable that every grower in the Riverina, Sunraysia and the Riverland forgot to apply preventative treatments this season.

So, what is causing it?

“The effect of season appears to us, from our data - from our limited data - to be greater than the degree of control we can deliver by calcium or gibberellic acid (GA),” he said.