Hypobaric Storage in Food Industry

Hypobaric Storage in Food Industry: Advances in Application and Theory presents recent examples of hypobaric storage implementation. The book covers examples including hypobaric warehouses in the United States and China; the results from extensive Chinese publications, some addressing military use; improved design of an intermodal container to reduce cost, weight, and power consumption; and a proposal to fabricate a  container in China for shipping mangoes and other difficult-to-export plant commodities.

In1979 the Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award was given by the Institute of Food Technologists to the Grumman Corporation and the Armour & Company-Research Center for their creation of a hypobaric transportation and storage system that extended the storage life of fresh meats and plant commodities six times greater than average. Since then, cost, experimental errors by academics, and other concerns have prevented hypobaric storage from achieving more widespread adoption. However, recent advances — particularly since 2004 — have brought hypobaric storage back into active research and development.

With specific focus on issues such as condensation; insect, fungi, and bacterial contamination; and materials and methods, this work lays out hypobaric technology for readers including students of postharvest physiology, agricultural engineers, and producers and exporters of food products.

• Presents recent examples of implementation of hypobaric storage including construction of hypobaric warehouses in United States and China
• Features an improved design of intermodal container to reduce cost, weight, and power consumption
• Proposes fabricating hypobaric containers in China for exporting mangoes and other plant commodities that presently can only be transported at much greater expense by air

Producers and exporters of fruits, vegetables, meats and seafoods, including food packagers working with shipping lines, undergraduate and graduate students in postharvest physiology, agricultural engineering, bacteriology, insect control and plant physiology, and PhD’s teaching and carrying out research in these areas,

• Acknowledgments
• Units and Abbreviations
• Chapter 1. History of Hypobaric Storage
• Chapter 2. Experimental Errors in Hypobaric Storage Research
  • 2.1 A Leak in an LP Chamber Increases Commodity Water Loss
  • 2.2 LP Air Changes Must Be Humidified at the Storage Pressure
  • 2.3 A Cold Spot on a Vacuum Chamber’s Surface Increases Commodity Water Loss
  • 2.4 LP Prevents C2H4, CO2, and NH3 Retention
  • 2.5 LP Does Not “Outgas or Evacuate” Flavor and Aroma Volatiles or Water Vapor
  • 2.6 Slow Evacuation and Venting Do Not Damage Commodities
• Chapter 3. Gas and Vapor Mass Transfer at a Low Pressure
  • 3.1 Diffusion of Gases and Vapors
  • 3.2 Carbon Dioxide
  • 3.3 Stomatal Opening
  • 3.4 Volumetric Expansion
  • 3.5 Air Changes
• Chapter 4. Heat Transfer at a Low Pressure
  • 4.1 Convection
  • 4.2 Radiation
  • 4.3 Evaporative Cooling
  • 4.4 Conduction
  • 4.5 Heat Formation and ATP Production
  • 4.6 Removing Respiratory Heat from a Hypobaric Chamber
• Chapter 5. Materials and Methods
  • 5.1 Measuring the RH
  • 5.2 Measuring the Pressure
  • 5.3 Controlling the Pressure
  • 5.4 Vacuum Pump
  • 5.5 Measuring the Air-Change Rate
  • 5.6 Measuring O2, CO2, C2H5OH, and CH3CHO in the Air Change
  • 5.7 Measuring O2, CO2, C2H5OH, and CH3CHO Within the Commodity
  • 5.8 Flow Control
  • 5.9 Measuring Hypobaric Acid Vapor
• Chapter 6. Humidity Control
• Chapter 7. Water Condensation in Hypobaric Chambers
• Chapter 8. Low-Oxygen Injury
• Chapter 9. Pervaporation
  • 9.1 Commercial Pervaporation
  • 9.2 Pervaporation During Hypobaric Storage
• Chapter 10. Capillary Condensation in Non-Waxed Cardboard Boxes
• Chapter 11. Insect Quarantine
  • 11.1 Lethal Effect of a Low Humidity
  • 11.2 Gas and Water Vapor Exchange Through Spiracles and Trachea
  • 11.3 Gas Exchange Systems of Insects and Horticultural Commodities
  • 11.4 Lethal Effect of Low [O2] at Atmospheric Pressure
  • 11.5 Lethal Effect of High [CO2] at Atmospheric Pressure
  • 11.6 Lethal Effect of Ethanol and Other Vapors
  • 11.7 Metabolic Stress Disinfection and Disinfestation
  • 11.8 Lethal Effect of a Low Pressure
  • 11.9 Ionizing Radiation (also See Section 12.8)
• Chapter 12. Fungi and Bacteria
  • 12.1 Effect of Low [O2] at Atmospheric Pressure
  • 12.2 Effect of [CO2] at Atmospheric Pressure
  • 12.3 Combined Effect of Low [O2 ]+High [CO2] at Atmospheric Pressure
  • 12.4 Indirect Effects of Low [O2] and High [CO2] at Atmospheric Pressure
  • 12.5 Effect of Low [O2]+Low [CO2] During Hypobaric Storage
  • 12.6 A Modest Pressure Change Activates Enzymes that Suppress Mold Growth
  • 12.7 Hypochlorous Acid Vapor
  • 12.8 Ozone
  • 12.9 Germicidal Effect of Ionizing Radiation
  • 12.10 MSDD (See Sections 11.6 and 11.7 for a Description of the MSDD Method)
• Chapter 13. Cost-Effective LP Intermodal Container
• Chapter 14. Storage Boxes
• Chapter 15. Conclusions
• Bibliography
• Index