THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE LOW ETHYLENE STORAGE

Effective low ethylene storage requires an adequately specified removal system and storage environment, and the selection of produce in an appropriate physiological condition to respond to a low ethylene atmosphere. The specification of an ethylene removal system for a particular application is determined by both the produce requirement and the storage environment characteristics. The desired ethylene concentration, the period for which it is necessary to maintain that concentration and the ethylene production rate that can be expected under those conditions are crucial to the specification and viability of ethylene removal systems. The concept of an ethylene load is used to illustrate the effect of storage environment characteristics e.g. store atmosphere leakage, external concentration and transient conditions, on removal system specification. Ideally, the requirement for ethylene removal should be specified precisely. However, in practice, this is rarely possible and some assumptions and compromises are necessary. Although these may lead to a less than perfect solution, a system optimisation approach can be adopted.