Controlled atmosphere is a technology based on variations of the parameters relative to atmospheric composition inside refrigerated/cold-storage rooms, consisting mainly in lowering the oxygen content and surveying the carbon dioxide value during the entire storage period of fresh produce.
Numerous, specific and sectoral studies allowed the realisation of highly innovative controlled atmosphere storage systems. A great advantage and plus point for the fruit and vegetable sector.
The reduction of the amount of oxygen in a storage room, brings, as a consequence, the slowing down of the natural, metabolic process of every fruit and vegetable, which, on the other hand, means an increase in the shelf life for every single product.
How CA plant is different then modified Cold Storage?
Both technologies foresee a variation of the parameters relative to the atmospheric composition, but for modified atmosphere continuous monitoring during storage is no longer used (for example “bagged” products, cut-fresh etc ) whereas in controlled atmosphere continuous and constant monitoring of the gaseous composition is carried out using customized analysis systems and, if necessary, correction of the values can be made.
How long fruits or vegetables can last under CA?
Controlled atmosphere is applied to extend the storage life of fruits and vegetables. Most of them can be stored considerably for more time compared with normal 0° cold store. In fact CA reduce drastically metabolism and respiration of the fruits. In this list there are some products which can take advantage from CA storage
Regarding the time of storage in CA/ULO conditions a lot depends from the initial conditions of fruits (ripening level, presence of physiological disorders, etc.) and from other components during storage (quality of refrigeration system, level of humidity, etc). All the parameters should be managed properly in order to maintain the initial quality during storage. Just to give some example it’s possible to store some cv. of pears and apples even for 12 months, cherries up to 90 days, cauliflowers 70 days and mangoes up to 50 days with the proper technology.
Equipments used in CA plants:
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co2 absorbers
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ethylene absorbers
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SO2 absorbers
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nitrogen generator
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oxygen scrubber
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catalytic converters
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co2 gas analyzer
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portable oxygen analyzers
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fruit storage containers
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