Italian packaging specialist Infia plans to highlight a recently introduced new concept in product ventilation at the Fruit Logistica trade show in Berlin this coming February, providing the fresh produce trade with a new technical solution to improve storage times and sustainability.
Fabio Zoboli, Infia’s sales director, says the introduction of the new system – which incorporates side holes in the middle-upper part of the punnet – has led to longer shelf-life and reduced dehydration in grapes.
This has been mainly to do with air flow in cooling rooms being horizontal rather than vertical; the new vents are apparently more effective in allowing the air to circulate.
In addition, suplhur dioxide released by suplhur pads can enter the punnet more easlier.
“All of the pre-cooling operations have been around 20-28 per cent faster than with standard punnets or clamshells, while energy consumption and carbon footprint have also been notably smaller,” he says. “The pressure of the fruit on the higher part of the punnet sides is very low and there is no damage during transportation.”
Infia recently carried out tests on Egyptian grape consignments shipped to the UK in order to compare standard punnets with the new K37 ‘F’, which offers lateral ventilation.
According to Mr Zoboli, the new punnets allowed for quicker pre-cooling, which contributed to improved product condition and stem quality with little dehydration.
A parallel test carried out in Israel reportedly showed evidence that by reducing the time taken to cool grapes, colour rentention was improved and shrinkage was negligible compared with an average of 5.7 per cent in standard punnets.
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