THE USE OF IT'S FRESH! ETHYLENE REMOVER TECHNOLOGY WITH E+^® ACTIVE AS A PRACTICAL MEANS FOR PRESERVING POSTHARVEST FRUIT QUALITY

The presence of ethylene in a storage environment can undermine both quality and postharvest life, often generating significant waste and associated economic losses. A demand for discovering alternative technologies capable of scavenging ethylene has led to the development of a new material, e+^® active, which has significant ethylene adsorption capacity. The material has been shown to remove ethylene to below physiologically active levels during fruit storage at 0-20°C and consequently extend postharvest life for a variety of fresh produce types. Different formats have been evaluated. For example, “It’sFresh!” sheets containing e+^® active were shown to be a highly efficacious format for suppressing ethylene and extending storage life of imported avocado and pluot plums in a series of trials. Indeed, It’s Fresh! technology has also been shown to have profound effects on non-climacteric fruit types such as strawberry where quality-related attributes were affected. The mode of action of It’sFresh! technology with e+^® active and the implications of scavenging ethylene in both non-climacteric and climacteric systems are discussed.