Actarus Romaine Lettuce Solid Vein Mechanical Harvest
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in mechanizing the harvest of romaine lettuce for processing is the lack of uniform quality among mature plants, leading to issues like tipburn, fringe burn, and damage from mechanical harvesting, which results in costly hand sorting and low net yield, especially due to the plant's hollow main veins and long core.
Innovation Solution
A new romaine lettuce variety, Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia Lam, designated as 41-69 RZ or Actarus, with solid main veins and narrow base leaves, which are dark green, short-cored, and resistant to tipburn and fringe burn, allowing for mechanical harvesting without significant quality issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If mechanical harvesting is implemented using standard equipment, then labor costs are reduced and harvesting efficiency is improved, but cutting damage occurs on hollow main veins and leaf margins resulting in quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the structural parameters of the lettuce plant by developing varieties with solid main veins instead of hollow veins, and narrow base leaves instead of broad leaves. This parameter change allows mechanical knives to cut through the solid vein structure without causing the splitting and bruising that occurs with hollow veins, thereby maintaining leaf quality during mechanical harvesting
2Productivity
If automated knife harvesting is used to increase productivity, then labor requirements are reduced, but the long core of fast bolting varieties causes cutting issues and yield loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent selects for and develops lettuce varieties with shorter core lengths by controlling the bolting parameter. This parameter change ensures that the core is short enough to be effectively harvested by automated knives without causing excessive yield loss from discarded plant parts, while still maintaining the productivity benefits of mechanized harvesting
3Productivity
If mechanical harvesting is implemented, then harvesting cost is reduced, but tipburn and fringe burn quality problems require additional hand sorting increasing processing cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by developing lettuce varieties with genetic resistance to tipburn and fringe burn before the harvesting and processing stages. This preliminary genetic protection prevents the development of quality defects that would otherwise require additional hand sorting and processing interventions, thereby maintaining both harvesting efficiency and processing simplicity
4Shape
If broad base leaves are present in romaine lettuce, then the plant achieves adequate head formation, but mechanical cutting causes wide cut surfaces and extensive bruising along main veins
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the leaf shape parameter by developing varieties with narrow base leaves instead of broad base leaves. This parameter change reduces the surface area exposed to mechanical cutting, thereby minimizing cut surface width and preventing extensive bruising along the main veins while still achieving adequate head formation through alternative leaf arrangement
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia Lam seed which has a solid main vein and narrow base leaves, dark green outer leaves, short core, absence of fringe burn, and absence of tipburn. A specific embodiment is designated 41-69 RZ, referred to as Actarus. The present invention also relates to a Lactuca sativa L . var. longifolia Lam plant produced by growing the “41-69 RZ” (“Actarus”) seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the lettuce cultivar, represented by lettuce variety 41-69 RZ.