Our family typically uses refrigeration or freezer units for preserving fresh fruits and vegetables, and we may not be as familiar with controlled atmosphere storage systems. However, these systems are also designed for preserving produce. They build upon refrigeration by adding gas component regulation, controlling factors like temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and ethylene concentrations in the storage environment. This prevents respiration in fruits and vegetables, slows down their metabolic processes, better preserves freshness and shelf life, and extends the storage and shelf-life of the produce. What characteristics do the stored fruits and vegetables have?
(1) High Nutritional Value: The moisture, VC, sugar content, acidity, firmness, color, and weight of the produce in modified atmosphere packaging are almost identical to freshly picked, offering strong market competitiveness. It effectively preserves the original shape, color, and fragrance of the fruits and vegetables.
(2) Suitable for long-distance transportation and export. The quality of fruits and vegetables has significantly improved, creating conditions for export and distribution.
(3) Extend shelf life. Due to the long-term effects of low oxygen and high carbon dioxide on fruits and vegetables, there is still a significant period of "lag effect" or dormancy in them even after the controlled atmosphere is released.
(4) Many fruits and vegetables can achieve annual supply from seasonal production, creating good social and economic benefits.
(5) Wide Variety Applicability: Various fruits and vegetables that are generally difficult to store, such as apples, pears, kiwis, dates, grapes, bananas, watermelons, cantaloupes, sweet oranges, tomatoes, celery, green peppers, scallions, green beans, etc., can all achieve excellent storage effects.
From the above content introduction, we can also recognize some aspects that need improvement in common refrigeration equipment. The controlled atmosphere storage facility precisely addresses these issues, extending the shelf life (post-harvest storage) of fruits and vegetables to 2 to 3 times that of a standard refrigerated warehouse, which is highly beneficial for the commercial fruit industry. For more information about controlled atmosphere storage, please continue to follow our website!
