Modeling of gas transmission properties of polymeric films used for MA packaging of fruits

Abstract

High value fruits namely, apple (cv. Royal Delicious), guava (cv. Baruipur) and litchi (cv. Shahi) harvested at their commercial maturity were considered for MA packaging to enhance storage life. Polymeric films namely LDPE, BOPP, PVC, PVDC of different thickness were used for MA packaging study and various film characteristics such as gas transmission rates, water vapour transmission rate, clarity, strength and durability were evaluated. Mathematical model was developed based on Arrhenius type equation to predict gas transmission rate (GTR) and the developed model was found to be very good fit with the mean relative deviation modulus value quite less than 10 %. The GTR of the films increased with the increase in storage temperature and the magnitude of the increase varied with the film type and thickness. Regression models have been suitably developed to predict the oxygen transmission rate and carbon dioxide transmission rate of selected polymeric films and combined film laminates as a function of temperatures. Since, none of the individual films could meet the gas transmission requirements of MAP for selected fruits, two different films were tailored to form laminates that sufficed the requirements for prolonged storage with maintaining original quality.

Packaging

“…Experimental determination of permeation rates and their derived constants is usually done using a test cell of known surface area with concentrated permeant (e.g., oxygen or CO 2 ) on one side of the package film (generally between 0.06 mm and 0.25 mm in thickness) and inert gas or air on the other side. As permeation progresses, the lag time (the time to achieve a steady rate of permeation) and the rate of concentration increase on the non-permeant side can be measured and used to calculate the solubility and diffusion coefficients (Mangaraj et al, 2015). Typical values of oxygen and water transmission rates and glass transition temperatures are shown in table 1.…”

Viscoelastic Behavior, Curing and Reinforcement Mechanism of Various Silica and POSS Filled Methyl-Vinyl Polysiloxane MVQ Rubber

“…Permeability is the amount of gas which, under steady conditions, crosses unit area and unit thickness of the sample in unit time under unit pressure difference and at constant temperature. Silicon (2019) 11:2293 2305 -For one-dimensional steady-state mass transfer the permeability coefficient (P) is related to the quantity of permeate transferred through the membrane [26] as follows:…”

Modified Atmosphere Packaging for Mango and Tomato: An Appraisal to Improve Shelf Life

“…where, b is the bulk density (g cm −3 ), M is bulk mass of fruit (g), V is the plastic container volume (cm 3 ). …”

“…CO 2 is bacteriostatic whereas N 2 is an inert gas which does not possess any bacteriostatic effect and is mostly used as a filler gas in the MA gas mixture. It may also be defined as the practice of modifying the composition of the internal atmosphere of a package in order to improve the shelf life of the product [1,2,3]. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) of fresh produce relies on modification of the atmosphere inside the package, achieved by the natural interplay between two processes, the respiration of the product and the transfer of gases through the packaging, that leads to an atmosphere richer in CO 2 and poorer in O 2 ; and it also depends on the characteristics of the commodity and the packaging film [4].…”

“…and other commodity and retailing of some cut or sliced (minimally processed) vegetables [13,14,15]. MAP facilitates maintenance of the desired atmosphere during the entire post-harvest handling time between harvest and consumption [3,14]. Various MAP systems have been developed and investigated for increasing the shelf life of fresh commodity.…”