Use of controlled and modified atmosphere in climacteric and non-climacteric fruits

Abstract

The growing demand for
fresh fruit in non-producing countries has contributed to the use of technologies for post-harvest maintenance of fruits and
vegetables using techniques such as controlled (CA) and modified atmosphere (MA), which should be implemented in
order to decrease the frequent losses between harvesting and marketing of fruits in the Brazilian market. The fruits, both
climacteric and non-climacteric, respire after harvest, which results in it not reaching the market with quality suitable for
marketing and consumption. CA and MA are techniques that depend on the change in composition of gases in the
atmosphere, usually with lower concentration of oxygen (O2) and higher concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2). CA is the
change of controlled composition whereas MA varies depending on the permeability characteristics of films used for
packaging with the rate of respiration. This study aimed to survey the application of these techniques in large scale fruit
production. We used bananas and pineapple as models for climacteric and non-climacteric fruits, respectively. It was
found that CA and MA techniques yield satisfactory results for the conservation of both fruits, but mainly for the
climateric ones.