The marketing of berries is a real challenge because they are highly perishable foods with short maturity and senescence periods. In general, the shelf life of berries is limited, due to softening and fruit diseases caused by fungi. Along with the worldwide increase in berry consumption, food-borne diseases have also increased, with the main causative agents identified: Norovirus and Salmonella.
As berry consumers all over the world demand high quality and safety, producers and exporters have been looking for the best alternatives to reinforce their increasingly demanding quality and safety plans. The demand is for tools that have integral solutions and at the same time do not produce harmful effects on people and are environmentally friendly.
"The figures of global foodborne disease outbreaks show that berry sanitisation processes are not sufficient to control microbiological risks, and new technological interventions are urgently needed."
NON-THERMAL PLASMA - OXYION®️ TECHNOLOGY
Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a technology that decontaminates fresh produce surfaces and environments in food processing or handling areas. This antimicrobial intervention offers the advantage of being chemical and water-free. NTP is a treatment that has the potential for flexible applications in a wide variety of fruit and vegetable process settings.
Oxyion®️ technology generates a specific type of PNT that, without chemicals or residues, controls microorganisms and improves post-harvest conditions of fruit and vegetables, supporting the safety and quality plans of the farms. Oxyion®️ technology also allows to increase environmental biosecurity in the premises, taking care of the people working in these facilities.
"Oxyion®️ technology is approved for use on organic fruit and has an extensive record of scientific validation. The company is present in more than 14 countries and has specialist fruit and vegetable subsidiaries in the USA, Mexico, Spain, Peru and Chile, with around 5,000 plants in operation.
INSUFFLATION OF OXYION®️ AT BLUEBERRIES: BETTER CONDITIONS AND GREATER FRUIT SAFETY
To further support the industry, Oxyion®️ has developed specialised equipment that performs a targeted injection of PNT into pallets of finished products prior to export, in an innovative process known as insufflation. This application requires a pallet cover or bag depending on the customer's market and export schedule. In addition, the exposure time to the technology is determined by the kilos and type of packaging to be processed.
"The results in commercial pallet applications show less fruit dehydration and greater firmness, with differences of up to 10 basis points at blueberries at destination."
Insufflation with Oxyion®️ technology is the ideal complement to the cold chain in process areas, pre-cooling tunnels and storage chambers. This Oxyion®️ innovation has numerous validations for the condition, firmness and safety of blueberries, with effective results, without chemicals or residues (biological technology).
Source: MyBlueProject
MyBlueProject is part of the global network of Italian Berry
