Effects of a Controlled Atmosphere System on the Storage Life of Lettuce. Part 2. Field Test
Abstract
Tests were conducted to determine whether TECTROL controlled atmosphere would lead to an improvement in the quality and storage life of lettuce shipped to military organizations overseas. TECTROL is a proprietory system for shipping fresh fruits and vegetables through the introduction of specially proportioned gases into existing refrigerated containers and rail cars. The tests showed that where controlled atmospheres can be reasonably maintained, improvements in quality and increases in storage life will result. Reduction in the extent of pink rib and decay were found. In these tests, lettuce was shipped from the West Coast to Japan requiring five weeks; reductions in lettuce losses were found to range from 5.0% to 16.4% when compared to lettuce shipped conventionally in air. The break even point to defray the additional cost of TECTROL is estimated to be in the range of 2.7% to 5.4% reduction in lettuce loss. This indicates that the cost of TECTROL would be defrayed by reductions in lettuce loss during overseas shipment. Some data are presented to indicate that temperatures in loaded refrigerated containers are frequently somewhat higher than their thermostat settings indicate.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0861545
Entities
People
- Abdul R. Rahman
- Donald E. Westcott
- Harold Gorfien
Organizations
- United States Army Soldier Systems Center