Today our rhythm of life, food needs, and its supply make the ripening of fruits a necessity to satisfy the customer. To achieve this, the use of gas mixing and refrigeration processes is of vital importance. Call us at nsspl.in and know about the Vegetable cold storage cost.
When entering a shopping center where they sell fruits and vegetables, we automatically look for those with the best ripening point or those that are close to this condition. However, we do not always consider all the processes and technology involved in being able to obtain products at their point.
How does temperature affect enzyme activity?
Generally, at 30 ° C the decrease in enzymatic activity begins, at 35 ° C it decreases even more and at 40 ° C it stops. If we maintain 30 ° C for a long time, there will not be normal ripening, being this irregular.
The lower limit for enzymatic inactivity is between 0 ° C and 2 ° C, but at this temperature the water in the product freezes, causing it to expand, affecting the tissue cells.
When the tissue thaws, it does not reabsorb water because the cells are damaged and thus the texture is modified. So, high or very low temperature is not convenient, the ideal is to stay a little above the freezing temperature of the fruit, to be able to store for longer and extend the shelf life.
When you have non-climacteric fruits, the cold delays the deterioration, and in the climacteric ones the beginning of ripening is delayed, and if they are kept at a low temperature for a long time, Ethylene must be applied (for a longer time) so that they ripen.
The optimal range for organoleptic maturation is between 10 ° C and 30 ° C, with the optimum being 20 ° C. There is a benefit when the temperature is lowered, but factors such as ripening, shelf life, cold damage, etc. must be taken into account.
Climacteric fruits such as bananas, avocados, and mangoes should be harvested immaturely when exported to distant markets and shipped while still hard and green to reduce damage and loss during travel and handling.
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Storage conditions:
This variable is important in terms of freshness; allows the fruit to look better or promotes mold or other undesirable characteristics.
When you do not have adequate or balanced control of relative humidity, it can be inclined to two parts: low, which implies dehydration of the product, wilting, and weight loss, among others. Or high, whose tendency is to allow and/or promote the development of microorganisms and rot.
Therefore, it is important to play with high or low relative humidity; the most recommended are between 85% and 95%, but it must always be taken into account whether the product supports it or not. There are exceptions that must have a relative humidity greater than 95% such as nuts, bulbs, lettuce, celery, etc.
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Air renewal:
Air is the medium that helps to eliminate the heat contained in the canning environment. In order for the temperature to be uniform, there must be a constant flow of air, without the fact that in the case of high airspeed, this may affect the quality of the fruits.
In cases where this flow has a higher speed than necessary, it affects the product with a loss of water and therefore weight. Then, the care in the control of cooling air flows must necessarily be leveled to avoid burning or dehydrating the product. Flows of 17.66 CFM (30 m3 / h) are recommended.
In addition to the above, ideally, the air used should be free of agents that may be detrimental to the quality of the fruits, a point where air filtration and control must be taken care of.
At Natural Storage Solutions Pvt.Ltd., we offer a comprehensive service in the set up of cold storage. Call us to know about Vegetable cold storage cost.