After a fruit is harvested it starts its way to your table.  In order for a fruit to get to your table in good shape, color and quality, it needs to go through important stages. These stages altogether are called post-harvest fruit story. Each step in the story is crucial and includes many details:

1. The first stage is harvesting. The moment of harvesting is extremely important. A well-grown product suitable for long-term storage should be harvested at the right time, both in terms of the dates and the time of the day. For long –term storage, fruits should be harvested shortly before ripening. Also, they should be collected accurately, without any physical damages.
2. At the second stage, after the fruits are properly harvested and packed, they are transported to the cold store right away without any prevarications and delays. Maximum attention on this stage should be given to not losing time.

3. After the fruits reach the store, the cool chain starts. The cooling system of the store cools the inner core temperature of the fruits to a required level. It slows down the fruits respiration.

4. At the fourth stage, the controlled atmosphere is activated, and long-term storage of the product begins. The fruit will spend the longest time on this stage. And here it is important to note the role and importance of CA in the fruit post-harvest story. When you add the CA system to the post-harvest story, it can extend the storage life of a fruit 2-3 times. For example, while the storage period for apples is 3 to 5 months, with CA system these period can be prolonged to 10-11 months. The CA system not only prolongs the time, but also ensures that the product quality stays almost the same as it was when it entered the cold store.

5. At the fifth stage, when the storage period is over, the CA room is ventilated. And only after the atmospheric conditions reach the normal respirable level, life safety rules are applied to make sure that the room is safe to enter. Only after that, the products can be taken for packaging and shipping.

6. When the process of packing is finished, the products go to the market. Maintaining the cold chain is also important here.

7. The time until the end user makes the purchase is called the shelf life. To prolong the fruit shelf life, it is crucial to maintain the cold chain.

 

The story does not actually end here, as we all know and have experienced, after end customers buy fruits from the market they keep the fruits in the refrigerator until they consume them.

 

Orchard  -  Harvest  -  Transportation to the cold store  -  Cooling - Controlled Atmosphere – Removal from the cold store – Transportation to the market – Shelf life

 

The OXYCAT team offers turnkey professional CA equipment and automation with all kinds of consulting, design, engineering and service services for your CA system, suitable for your needs and business structure.

 

You can contact us for all your questions and requests regarding our CA systems