Mudgee resident Kevin Scott has been granted an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of New South Wales for his work researching fruit and vegetable storage and transportation.

In admitting Dr Scott to the University’s highest honour, Professor Dianne Wiley of the faculty of Engineering commended him for his research and his work as a mentor for research students at the university.

“Throughout his career he has been a pioneer and innovator in the postharvest science and technology of fruits,” she said.

In preparation for receiving the honorary doctorate, Dr Scott compiled a summary of his career – a curriculum vitae spanning 50 years and more than 100 scientific papers, concluding with his semi-retirement to Mudgee.

Dr Scott graduated with a degree in agricultural science in the 1950s, when it was not possible for him to study for a PhD in the subject in Australia.

After teaching for three years, Dr Scott became the Department of Agriculture representative on a CSIRO project improving fruit and vegetable storage and transport around the commonwealth.

“In those days we were pretty humble and the salaries weren’t real high. We just had a go and we solved a lot of problems,” Dr Scott said.

In 1975, Dr Scott solved the problem known as bitter pit, a calcium deficiency in apples that had been a problem worldwide for decades.

As well as furthering scientific understanding of the factors affecting the shelf life of fruit and vegetables, Dr Scott’s work has provided practical benefits to Australian fruit storage operators and international aid organisations in China, Asia and Africa.

However, he remains proudest of his work on new ways of packaging bananas for transport, which could multiply their shelf life by three times without the use of refrigeration.

“I regard it as my best bit of work,” Dr Scott said.

The deceptively simple technique, which involves storing the bananas in polythene bags with an ethylene absorbent to contain some chemicals they produce and eliminate others, has been widely recognised internationally although no transport company has been willing to pick it up.

Dr Scott said he was pushing for it to be used in poorer countries, where it could improve the supply of bananas to the poor and hungry.