NEW FRUIT STORAGE PROCESS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22111, 5 June 1937, Page 13

NEW FRUIT STORAGE PROCESS

♦ FOURTEEN YEARS’ RESEARCH BY MELBOURNE SCIENTIST (FBO it OUB OWN CORRESPONDENT.) SYDNEY, May 28. After research lasting 14 years, a small group of Melbourne scientists claim to have discovered a formula which will revolutionise export storage, particularly for the more delicate Australian fruits. The new process is known as “gas storage, and it may soon be applied commercially. The scientists worked on the assumption that if the breathing action of fruit could be' controlled, deterioration could be retarded. Fruit absorbs oxygen, and in converting oxygen into life forces, it produces and gives off carbon dioxide, in addition to other gases. A form of combustion is thus set up, which gradually breaks down the tissues of the ffuit. When fruit is freshly picked from the tree, its respiration is temporarily accelerated, and deterioration becomes rapid. By controlling the breathing action of the fruit, perishable soft fruits have been kept in perfect condition for months. In tests, oranges were in perfect condition after seven months’ storage, ripe bananas were still edible after four months’ storage, and tomatoes showed no sign of shrinking after several weeks’ storage. Tomatoes have been cut in half, and after nine weeks in the test chambers have shown no sign of decay.