Cold storage plays an indispensable role in improving the quality of fruits and vegetables. Apples are consumed all around the year in Pakistan. If you haven’t heard about Controlled atmosphere storage or CA storage, then it is time to improve your memory and knowledge.

CA storage for applies can help to improve the storage of apples, pears, and other fruits to several months. Apples stored in prefabricated houses with PIR panels require special care to avoid quality issues. Controlled atmospheres (CA) in cold stores in Pakistan help to slow the ripening of apples.

These cold chains in Pakistan also improve the firmness of fruit with the implementation of CA technology.  Moreover, they also ensure the improvement of flavor of fruit. Sweetness and tartness are preserved to some extent by the use of CA. But this lessens the other flavors in CA-stored fruit.

Let us dive deeper into the use and benefit of CA technology or CA stores. To ensure good quality maintenance of apples in cold storage and prefabricated houses.

How CA Storage Works for Apples in Cold Rooms

CA stores are built in various cold chains in Pakistan according to international standards. By lowering the oxygen in an air-tight storage room, this process works to improve the quality and maintain its freshness. For example, CA technology helps to ensure that it reduces fruit respiration and that the quality of apples does not go down.

In CA stores, the CO2 quality or concentration is typically allowed to increase. This helps to increase the quality of food and fruit stored in the cold stores. Moreover, in CA stores, a major element or ingredient used is oxygen. It helps the fruit in prefabricated houses with sandwich panels to improve respiration. How?

It reduces the concentration to a very low level. This is a vital process that ensures that the quality of fruit does not change at all. Moreover, during the process of respiration, fruit gives off carbon dioxide. This process also slows down the ripening process with the use of CA equipment installed in top cold stores in Pakistan.

This implies that you can now understand the CA storage for apples in Cold rooms and prefabricated houses with PIR panels in Pakistan. This is a vital and necessary technology that adds significant value to cold storage. Also helps to reduce the storage cost of apples and other fruit items in cold rooms.

How Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Works in CA Cold Stores

In CA cold stores where apples are stored in cold rooms, the normal oxygen concentration of air which is almost 21%, is reduced. Engineers ensure in Cold stores in Pakistan that it is reduced to 1 to 3% by flushing the storage room with nitrogen gas.

Moreover, cold chains in Pakistan also use special nitrogen generators and liquid nitrogen; these two are essential ways to flush a room. However, one care must be taken not to drop the oxygen level below 1%. Otherwise, a fermentation process will occur that can impair the quality of apples stored in prefabricated houses.

One more point to consider. Cold stores in Pakistan such as Izhar Foster, one of the top designers of prefabricated houses ensure good circulation of air. This means that fruit consume oxygen and decreases the concentration to below optimum if air circulation is poor.

How Carbon Dioxide Should Be Managed in CA Cold Stores

In CA-equipped cold stores in Pakistan, bins should arrange in order to allow air movement. For instance, if a prefabricated house for cold store apple has a leaky storage facility, it leads to poor quality of food and optimum oxygen utilization.

In cold rooms, the level of carbon dioxide should not be below a concentration of 3% during initial stages. These early stages of apple storage are crucial because as the level of CO2 gets higher, browning disorders of the skin and flesh happens. This wreaks havoc on fruit and also makes it less marketable.

Carbon Dioxide Removal is Vital in Cold Rooms

The removal of carbon dioxide from prefabricated houses should be as soon as possible. CA store cold room designers can do that by using specialized scrubbers or by placing bags of hydrated lime in cold stores.

With these bags stored inside cold rooms, you can puncture polythene to ensure that it needs to absorb carbon dioxide. This helps to ensure and maintain the level of carbon dioxide at levels below toxicity.

Moreover, the cold room with CO2 must have 0.6 lbs. of hydrated lime to ensure the quality of fruit. Since all apples are not alike, so if cold rooms with CA stores have honey crisp apple, they are absolutely sensitive to the environment and higher levels of CO2.

This shows that CO2 or carbon dioxide is definitely a risk for fruits in a CA storage in a prefabricated house. Therefore, cold chains in Pakistan such as Izhar Foster use optimum temperatures and use a gas analyzer to evaluate the leaking of CO2 and oxygen in the environments.

Concluding Words

The poor the maintenance of apples in cold stores can degrade their quality and taste. Some varieties of apples have a lower tolerance for carbon dioxide. Hence, it is vital to place them adequately in cold rooms with less than 2% oxygen. This will ensure better ripening of fruit and good quality.