WO2008090520A1 - Method for packaging agricultural produce - Google Patents
Method for packaging agricultural produce Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2008090520A1 WO2008090520A1 PCT/IB2008/050249 IB2008050249W WO2008090520A1 WO 2008090520 A1 WO2008090520 A1 WO 2008090520A1 IB 2008050249 W IB2008050249 W IB 2008050249W WO 2008090520 A1 WO2008090520 A1 WO 2008090520A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- agricultural produce
- vacuum
- container
- food product
- kpa
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B25/00—Packaging other articles presenting special problems
- B65B25/02—Packaging agricultural or horticultural products
- B65B25/04—Packaging fruit or vegetables
- B65B25/041—Packaging fruit or vegetables combined with their conservation
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
- A23B—PRESERVING, e.g. BY CANNING, MEAT, FISH, EGGS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, EDIBLE SEEDS; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES; THE PRESERVED, RIPENED, OR CANNED PRODUCTS
- A23B7/00—Preservation or chemical ripening of fruit or vegetables
- A23B7/14—Preserving or ripening with chemicals not covered by groups A23B7/08 or A23B7/10
- A23B7/144—Preserving or ripening with chemicals not covered by groups A23B7/08 or A23B7/10 in the form of gases, e.g. fumigation; Compositions or apparatus therefor
- A23B7/148—Preserving or ripening with chemicals not covered by groups A23B7/08 or A23B7/10 in the form of gases, e.g. fumigation; Compositions or apparatus therefor in a controlled atmosphere, e.g. partial vacuum, comprising only CO2, N2, O2 or H2O
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a method for packaging agricultural produce.
- the present invention relates to a method for packaging agricultural produce that is susceptible to spoilage and thus has a relatively limited shelf life.
- Agricultural produce especially high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables
- Agricultural produce that is packaged into containers is normally immersed in a liquid to assist heat transfer and reduce the gas content within the container and the subsequent oxidation and spoiling of the produce.
- Such containers have a residual gaseous headspace which should preferably have a low volume to reduce oxidation of the produce within the container.
- There are various methods employed to reduce the gas volume in the headspace prior to sealing the container for example steam injection or inert gas injection.
- various types of agricultural produce also contain different levels of residual gasses, including oxygen, entrained or dissolved within the flesh of the produce, i.e. in and around the cells of the produce. During time these entrained gasses can also lead to oxidation and consequently to a reduced shelf life of the agricultural produce.
- a method of packaging agricultural produce includes the step of subjecting the agricultural produce to a vacuum to degas the agricultural produce prior to sealing the agricultural produce inside a container.
- the agricultural produce may be fresh fruit or fresh vegetables.
- the agricultural produce may be high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables.
- the vacuum may extract residual entrained or dissolved gasses present within the agricultural produce.
- the vacuum may be applied for at least 2 minutes at greater than 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- the vacuum may be applied for at least 30 minutes at about 0.7 bar (70 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- the vacuum may be applied for less than 10 minutes at greater than 0.8 bar (80 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- the vacuum pressure and time duration may be regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce formed by escaping residual gasses.
- a food product includes a container; and agricultural produce sealed within the container, wherein the agricultural produce has been subjected to a vacuum to degas the agricultural produce prior to being sealed inside the container.
- the container may be made of plastics material.
- the container may be a multi-layer, high barrier, semi-rigid container.
- the container may be sealed with a flexible film of plastics material.
- the flexible film may be a multi-layer, high barrier flexible film.
- the agricultural produce may be fresh fruit or fresh vegetables.
- the agricultural produce may be high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables.
- the agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum to extract residual entrained or dissolved gasses present within the agricultural produce.
- the agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for at least 2 minutes at greater than 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- the agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for at least 30 minutes at about 0.7 bar (70 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- the agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for less than 10 minutes at greater than 0.8 bar (80 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- the agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum pressure for a time duration regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce formed by escaping residual gasses.
- the agricultural produce can be high acid food products such as fresh fruit or acidified vegetables.
- the agricultural produce is subjected to de-aeration / degassing for a period of at least 2 minutes and under a vacuum pressure of greater 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- a vacuum pressure of greater 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
- pineapples are degassed at a pressure of 70 kPa below atmospheric pressure for a time period of about 40 minutes.
- the vacuum pressure and time are able to be varied to allow faster degassing at higher vacuum pressures or slower degassing at lower vacuum pressures. In all cases the vacuum pressure and time duration are regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce caused by the escaping of the residual gasses.
- the volume of the agricultural produce is reduced due to a slight shrinkage thereof resulting from the extracted gasses. This allows the same mass of agricultural produce to be inserted into a smaller container than is conventionally used or alternatively placing more product into a conventional container, e.g a tin container.
- the containers into which the agricultural produce is to be placed are often made of plastics material and can be a multi-layer, high barrier, semi-rigid container. Such a container is pre-filled with a liquid to about 25% of the container volume. Thereafter the degassed agricultural produce is inserted into the container up to a desired weight and the container is topped up with further liquid until a headspace of about 3 mm is obtained.
- the container is sealed with a sealing film, such as a multi-layer, high barrier flexible plastics film.
- the sealing film is heat sealed to the container, for example at a temperature of between 190 0 C and 205 0 C for a time of 0.8 to 1.2 seconds under a force of 250 kg.
- the sealed container is subsequently heated to pasteurise the agricultural produce. Due to the lower volume of residual gasses in the sealed container, less expansion takes place and thus normal atmospheric pasteurisation can be conducted without the need for an over pressure retort. This reduces capital and production costs as a continuous atmospheric pasteurisation process can be utilised.
- the lower gas volumes within the container has the further advantage in that less stretching of the sealing film (resulting in less damage to the barrier properties of the film) is experienced during pasteurisation due to the expansion of the gases inside the container. Also, as less air is present in the container when it is sealed, there is likely to be less panelling of the container when at ambient temperature.
Landscapes
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- Agronomy & Crop Science (AREA)
- Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
- Zoology (AREA)
- Food Science & Technology (AREA)
- Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
- Vacuum Packaging (AREA)
- Packging For Living Organisms, Food Or Medicinal Products That Are Sensitive To Environmental Conditiond (AREA)
- Packages (AREA)
Abstract
The invention discloses a container for a food product and a method of packaging agricultural produce into a container, wherein the agricultural produce is subjected to a vacuum to degas the agricultural produce prior to sealing the agricultural produce inside the container.
Description
METHOD FOR PACKAGING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for packaging agricultural produce.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for packaging agricultural produce that is susceptible to spoilage and thus has a relatively limited shelf life.
BACKGROUND TO INVENTION
Agricultural produce, especially high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables, that is packaged into containers is normally immersed in a liquid to assist heat transfer and reduce the gas content within the container and the subsequent oxidation and spoiling of the produce. Such containers have a residual gaseous headspace which should preferably have a low volume to reduce oxidation of the produce within the container. There are various methods employed to reduce the gas volume in the headspace prior to sealing the container, for example steam injection or inert gas injection.
However, various types of agricultural produce also contain different levels of residual gasses, including oxygen, entrained or dissolved within the flesh of the produce, i.e. in and around the cells of the produce. During time these entrained gasses can also lead to oxidation and consequently to a reduced shelf life of the agricultural produce.
Furthermore, during pasteurisation of the agricultural produce, the gasses in the headspace and the residual gasses in the produce expand substantially and therefore can result in deformation or damage to certain types of containers, such as semi-rigid containers. Thus agricultural produce in such semi-rigid containers normally needs to be pasteurised in an over pressure retort to counteract the internal pressure that is developed within the container due to gas expansion. This leads to higher capital and production costs.
It is an object of the invention to suggest a method of packaging agricultural produce, which will assist in overcoming these problems.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to the invention, a method of packaging agricultural produce includes the step of subjecting the agricultural produce to a vacuum to degas the agricultural produce prior to sealing the agricultural produce inside a container.
The agricultural produce may be fresh fruit or fresh vegetables.
The agricultural produce may be high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables.
The vacuum may extract residual entrained or dissolved gasses present within the agricultural produce.
The vacuum may be applied for at least 2 minutes at greater than 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
The vacuum may be applied for at least 30 minutes at about 0.7 bar (70 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
The vacuum may be applied for less than 10 minutes at greater than 0.8 bar (80 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
The vacuum pressure and time duration may be regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce formed by escaping residual gasses.
Also according to the invention, a food product includes a container; and agricultural produce sealed within the container, wherein the agricultural produce has been subjected to a vacuum to degas the agricultural produce prior to being sealed inside the container.
The container may be made of plastics material.
The container may be a multi-layer, high barrier, semi-rigid container.
The container may be sealed with a flexible film of plastics material.
The flexible film may be a multi-layer, high barrier flexible film.
The agricultural produce may be fresh fruit or fresh vegetables.
The agricultural produce may be high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables.
The agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum to extract residual entrained or dissolved gasses present within the agricultural produce.
The agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for at least 2 minutes at greater than 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
The agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for at least 30 minutes at about 0.7 bar (70 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
The agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for less than 10 minutes at greater than 0.8 bar (80 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
The agricultural produce may be adapted to be subjected to a vacuum pressure for a time duration regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce formed by escaping residual gasses.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying schematic drawing.
In the drawing there is shown a flow diagram of a method of packaging agricultural produce according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
Referring to the drawing, a method of packaging agricultural produce in accordance with the invention, generally indicated by reference numeral 10, is shown. The agricultural produce can be high acid food products such as fresh fruit or acidified vegetables.
The agricultural produce is subjected to de-aeration / degassing for a period of at least 2 minutes and under a vacuum pressure of greater 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure. Thus for example, peaches are degassed at a pressure of
70 kPa below atmospheric pressure for a time period of about 30 minutes, while
pineapples are degassed at a pressure of 70 kPa below atmospheric pressure for a time period of about 40 minutes.
The vacuum pressure and time are able to be varied to allow faster degassing at higher vacuum pressures or slower degassing at lower vacuum pressures. In all cases the vacuum pressure and time duration are regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce caused by the escaping of the residual gasses.
After degassing, the volume of the agricultural produce is reduced due to a slight shrinkage thereof resulting from the extracted gasses. This allows the same mass of agricultural produce to be inserted into a smaller container than is conventionally used or alternatively placing more product into a conventional container, e.g a tin container.
The containers into which the agricultural produce is to be placed, are often made of plastics material and can be a multi-layer, high barrier, semi-rigid container. Such a container is pre-filled with a liquid to about 25% of the container volume. Thereafter the degassed agricultural produce is inserted into the container up to a desired weight and the container is topped up with further liquid until a headspace of about 3 mm is obtained.
The container is sealed with a sealing film, such as a multi-layer, high barrier flexible plastics film. The sealing film is heat sealed to the container, for example at a temperature of between 1900C and 2050C for a time of 0.8 to 1.2 seconds under a force of 250 kg.
The sealed container is subsequently heated to pasteurise the agricultural produce. Due to the lower volume of residual gasses in the sealed container, less expansion takes place and thus normal atmospheric pasteurisation can be conducted without the need for an over pressure retort. This reduces capital and production costs as a continuous atmospheric pasteurisation process can be utilised.
The lower gas volumes within the container has the further advantage in that less stretching of the sealing film (resulting in less damage to the barrier properties of the film) is experienced during pasteurisation due to the expansion of the gases inside the container.
Also, as less air is present in the container when it is sealed, there is likely to be less panelling of the container when at ambient temperature.
Furthermore, the lower volumes of gasses (oxygen) in the container lead to less/slower oxidation of the agricultural produce and consequently to an increased shelf life of the agricultural produce in the container.
Claims
1. A method of packaging agricultural produce including the step of subjecting the agricultural produce to a vacuum to degas the agricultural produce prior to sealing the agricultural produce inside a container.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the agricultural produce is fresh fruit or fresh vegetables.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the agricultural produce is high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables.
4. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the vacuum extracts residual entrained or dissolved gasses present within the agricultural produce.
5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the vacuum is applied for at least 2 minutes at greater than 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
6. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the vacuum is applied for at least 30 minutes at about 0.7 bar (70 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
7. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the vacuum is applied for less than 10 minutes at greater than 0.8 bar (80 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the vacuum pressure and time duration are regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce formed by escaping residual gasses.
9. A food product including a container; and agricultural produce sealed within the container, wherein the agricultural produce has been subjected to a vacuum to degas the agricultural produce prior to being sealed inside the container.
10. A food product as claimed in claim 9, in which the container is made of plastics material.
11. A food product as claimed in claim 10, in which the container is a multi-layer, high barrier, semi-rigid container.
12. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11, in which the container is sealed with a flexible film of plastics material.
13. A food product as claimed in claim 12, in which the flexible film is a multilayer, high barrier flexible film.
14. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 13, in which the agricultural produce is fresh fruit or fresh vegetables.
15. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 14, in which the agricultural produce is high acid food products such as fruit or acidified vegetables.
16. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 15, in which the agricultural produce is adapted to be subjected to a vacuum to extract residual entrained or dissolved gasses present within the agricultural produce.
17. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 16, in which the agricultural produce is adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for at least 2 minutes at greater than 0.2 bar (20 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
18. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 16, in which the agricultural produce is adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for at least 30 minutes at about 0.7 bar (70 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
19. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 16, in which the agricultural produce is adapted to be subjected to a vacuum for less than 10 minutes at greater than 0.8 bar (80 kPa) below atmospheric pressure.
20. A food product as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 19, in which the agricultural produce is adapted to be subjected to a vacuum pressure for a time duration regulated to prevent cell damage to the agricultural produce formed by escaping residual gasses.
21. A food product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying schematic drawing.
22. A method of packaging agricultural produce substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying schematic drawing.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZA200700781 | 2007-01-26 | ||
| ZA2007/00781 | 2007-01-26 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| WO2008090520A1 true WO2008090520A1 (en) | 2008-07-31 |
Family
ID=39644163
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2008/050249 WO2008090520A1 (en) | 2007-01-26 | 2008-01-24 | Method for packaging agricultural produce |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| WO (1) | WO2008090520A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITRM20100655A1 (en) * | 2010-12-13 | 2012-06-14 | Sciarria Srl | PROCEDURE FOR PACKAGING IN FOURTH RANGE OF TUBERS, SUCH AS POTATO OR SIMILAR |
Citations (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPS60186246A (en) * | 1984-03-06 | 1985-09-21 | Ulvac Corp | Method of preservation of perishable farm product |
| WO1991011108A1 (en) * | 1990-02-02 | 1991-08-08 | Vegetable S.A. | Method for processing vegetables to be preserved, packaged for sale in vacuum-bags and prepared in the home |
| EP0518828A1 (en) * | 1991-06-10 | 1992-12-16 | Manzini Comaco S.p.A. | A process and plant for the canning of food products |
| CN1397236A (en) * | 2002-02-05 | 2003-02-19 | 黄桂岩 | Method and equiopment for removing residual chemical substances from agricultural products |
| CN1613331A (en) * | 2004-12-02 | 2005-05-11 | 许连科 | Preserving technology for leechee |
-
2008
- 2008-01-24 WO PCT/IB2008/050249 patent/WO2008090520A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPS60186246A (en) * | 1984-03-06 | 1985-09-21 | Ulvac Corp | Method of preservation of perishable farm product |
| WO1991011108A1 (en) * | 1990-02-02 | 1991-08-08 | Vegetable S.A. | Method for processing vegetables to be preserved, packaged for sale in vacuum-bags and prepared in the home |
| EP0518828A1 (en) * | 1991-06-10 | 1992-12-16 | Manzini Comaco S.p.A. | A process and plant for the canning of food products |
| CN1397236A (en) * | 2002-02-05 | 2003-02-19 | 黄桂岩 | Method and equiopment for removing residual chemical substances from agricultural products |
| CN1613331A (en) * | 2004-12-02 | 2005-05-11 | 许连科 | Preserving technology for leechee |
Non-Patent Citations (3)
| Title |
|---|
| DATABASE WPI Week 198544, Derwent World Patents Index; Class D13, AN 1985-273616 * |
| DATABASE WPI Week 200374, Derwent World Patents Index; Class D14, AN 2003-780149 * |
| DATABASE WPI Week 200566, Derwent World Patents Index; Class D13, AN 2005-639687 * |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITRM20100655A1 (en) * | 2010-12-13 | 2012-06-14 | Sciarria Srl | PROCEDURE FOR PACKAGING IN FOURTH RANGE OF TUBERS, SUCH AS POTATO OR SIMILAR |
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