Belgian distributor Agri Technology is convinced: AiroFresh® is the 'change maker' in storage technologies for food and purifying the living environment. The device suppresses the presence of ethylene or fungi, bacteria and viruses to, among other things, prevent food waste. The still fairly unknown system is based on an air purification system developed by NASA.
"The AGF sector in the Netherlands may not yet be very familiar with the system, but NASA has been using it for a long time to purify air in submarines and space shuttles, among others," says Agri Technology's Roger Van Engelgem. Australian company CRT Tech Pty Ltd bought the technology from NASA. CRT Tech Australia further developed and patented the AiroFresh® technology.
No contamination
Meanwhile, AiroFresh® has been further refined, enabling it to render harmless organic compounds present in air and water vapour. "Not only ethylene but also VOCs such as mould, fungi, bacteria and viruses are destroyed by the AiroFresh®. This makes it possible to place fish, meat, fruit and dairy products in one room without cross-contamination." AiroFresh® is already being used satisfactorily by several fruit growers in Australia. The system is biologically certified in Australia by NASAA (not to be confused with space specialist). So unlike forms of chemical air purification, there are absolutely no harmful risks to humans.
According to Van Engelgem, the entire post-harvest management can be better optimised by using AiroFresh®. It also preserves quality and flavour better. "You can still inspect fruit as well as you like, a stalk may always have gotten into the fruit making it more susceptible to rot in the further storage process. AiroFresh® also kills the mould on the fruit and prevents the formation of 'nests' of rotten fruit in the pallox. Unlike the ethylene blockers used, AiroFresh® does not inhibit ripening i.e. flavour development.
Composition
The AiroFresh® is a stainless steel tube . Inside it is a fan that draws in air through the tube. It also contains a special UVC lamp consisting of four different sections that maximises the range of the killing mechanism. The inside of the tube consists of a specific coating of titanium, among other things, that intensively purifies the air.
The AiroFresh®1000 (110*18cm - 9kg - consumption 0.85Amps) unit has a volume treatment capacity of 250m³ of storage space. The unit's output is 120m³/hr. For soft fruits such as berries, 1 unit for 150m³ of storage space is recommended. This considering the short storage time (at least 5-6 hours) The AiroFresh®4000 (29kg) displaces 480m³/hr and is good to treat 1000m³ of storage space. AiroFresh® is widely applicable: it can be used from cultivation to the consumer. For example, an Australian supermarket chain installed the AiroFresh®1000 above the fresh fish department to remove 'fish smell'. For cheese makers where both white and blue mould cheeses are produced, using the AiroFresh® will prevent cros-contamination of the white mould on the blue mould cheese. According to van Engelgem, it has also been shown to neutralise odour in post-mortem rooms where deceased people are laid to rest.
From the middle of this year, AiroFresh®'s impact on making the storage of tulip bulbs more economical versus current common techniques will be investigated. Here, the AiroFresh® offers the possibility of controlling ethylene and disease problems during storage using less energy.
Source: www.agritechnology.be
By: Kelly Bakker
