Elimination or Removal of Ethylene for Fruit and Vegetable Storage via Low-Temperature Catalytic Oxidation

Abstract

Ethylene acts as an important hormone to trigger the ripening and senescence of fruits and vegetables (F&V). Thus, it is essential to eliminate trace ethylene and prevent F&V losses effectively. There are several technologies currently applying to control the ethylene concentration in the storage and transportation environment, including adsorption, gene modification, oxidation, etc. These protocols will be compared, and special attention will be paid to the low-temperature catalytic oxidation that has already been applied to practical production in this review. The active sites, supports, and reaction and deactivation mechanism of the catalysts for the low-temperature ethylene oxidation will be discussed and evaluated systematically to provide new insights for the development of effective catalysts, along with the suggestion of some perspectives for future research on this important catalytic system for F&V preservation.

Synergistic effect of metal oxidation states and surface acidity enhanced the trace ethylene adsorption of Ag/ZSM-5

“…[6][7][8] Despite the promising future of the lowtemperature ethylene catalysts, the relatively high humidity of the fruit storage environment and the poor reusability of the catalysts still hinder their scale up from the laboratory to the storage room. 9 Besides the above methods, the recuperative technique that operates on the principle of adsorption could be an excellent alternative to remove ethylene with high efficiency. There have been reports in the 1950s regarding the use of active carbon as adsorbents to remove ethylene from the fruit storage environment.…”

“…6–8 Despite the promising future of the low-temperature ethylene catalysts, the relatively high humidity of the fruit storage environment and the poor reusability of the catalysts still hinder their scale up from the laboratory to the storage room. 9…”

Kinetics of low‐temperature catalytic combustion of ethylene at wet conditions for postharvest storage applications

“…The former two ways receive increasing attention in the academic literature but at present seem impractical on a large scale. 3 Traditional heterogeneous combustion catalysts are known to be effective at removing trace organics from contaminated air. They use air as an oxidant and create no harmful products.…”

“…Recent reviews 3,4 on the elimination of ethylene for fruit and vegetable storage summarize approaches and recent advances in the field and describe, among others, catalytic oxidation methods, such as heterogeneous catalytic oxidation, photocatalysis, and plasma catalysis. The former two ways receive increasing attention in the academic literature but at present seem impractical on a large scale 3 . Traditional heterogeneous combustion catalysts are known to be effective at removing trace organics from contaminated air.…”

Influence of Background Gas for Plasma-Assisted Catalytic Removal of Ethylene in a Modified Dielectric Barrier Discharge-Reactor

“…Ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) is a plant hormone that is responsible for the growth, maturity, and ripening of fruits and vegetables (FVs). , The generation of ethylene does not stop after harvesting the FVs, which is also responsible for the over-ripening, sprouting, yellowing, and decay of FVs post harvest. , The transportation of FVs from the point of picking to the storage unit also affects their freshness and storage life. Consequently, the C 2 H 4 concentration has to be maintained as low as possible in the transportation/storage unit to protect sensitive FVs from those that emit a larger amount of C 2 H 4 .…”