patent application

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Whirlpool seeks patent for crisper said to keep fruit, veg fresher

Whirlpool Corporation says it has developed a crisper which controls ripening so as to extend the shelf-life of the fruit and vegetables in it. The invention hinges on the removal of ethylene, a chemical released by many fruits and some vegetables that hastens ripening.

Whirlpool Corporation says it has developed a crisper which controls ripening so as to extend the shelf-life of the fruit and vegetables in it.

The invention hinges on the removal of ethylene, a chemical released by many fruits and some vegetables that hastens ripening.

In international patent application documents published by WIPO, the US-based home appliance giant says that typically the special compartments found in fridges for storing fruit and vegetables – crisper drawers – are closed. This means that as the produce ripens, ethylene accumulates in the drawer and accelerates the ripening of surrounding produce, thereby reducing shelf life and freshness.

Whirlpool’s solution is to modify the atmosphere in the drawer via a photocatalytic process that converts ethylene into carbon dioxide and water. The result is not only is the ethylene reduced, the carbon dioxide produced limits the ripening of the produce it surrounds.

The invention achieves this via a crisper with a photo-catalytic element – featuring titanium dioxide TiO2 – and a source of UV light, preferably of the LED type. That’s because ethylene (and other volatile organic compounds) present in the air at low concentrations can be oxidised to carbon dioxide and water when exposed to particles of titanium dioxide irradiated with near UV light.

The lighting would ideally be subject to an on/off algorithm and an infrared gas sensor used to directly control ethylene concentration and indirectly monitor the carbon dioxide content.

Source: https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=US152767151

Whirlpool said one of the objects of the invention is to be “cost-effective both during the manufacturing process and when functioning during the entire life of the refrigerator.”

It also said that, in general, fruits release more ethylene than vegetables during the natural ripening process and that many vegetables are sensitive to ethylene.

Foods that emit ethylene include: apples, avocados, bananas, pears, peaches, plums, cantaloupes, honeydew melons, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Vegetables that absorb ethylene include: brassicas, leafy greens, beans, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, peas, peppers and potatoes.

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Chemical agent helps thin stone fruit

Chemicals are used to thin out stone fruit – rather than doing it by hand or machine – under an invention from the UK’s Fine Agrochemicals Ltd.

Chemicals are used to thin out stone fruit – rather than doing it by hand or machine – under an invention from the UK’s Fine Agrochemicals Ltd.

In a patent application document, the company says the need for fruit load control is widely recognised in the stone fruit sector. As the fruit carrying capacity of trees is limited, an increase in the number of fruit – such as in the case of apricots, nectarines, plums, cherries and peaches – is accompanied by reduction in fruit size.

And since small fruit is considered “low quality fruit” in the fresh fruit market, and attracts “very low prices”, it is common practice among fruit growers to reduce the number of fruits per tree by chemical, mechanical and/or hand thinning in order to prevent branch breakage, and to obtain large, high quality fruits, and also because abundant bearing may cause bi-annual bearing, which is disadvantageous in itself, it said.

But the hand thinning of flowers or of fruit require a lot of manpower and is “very expensive”, the company said in the documents published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). And mechanical flower thinning has downsides including the risk of tree damage.

As for the less labour intensive option of chemical thinning, the company said “very few” products are available for stone fruit and only treatment with GA3 (gibberellic acid) is relatively common.

Instead, it proposes use of gibberellin 7 (GA7) for thinning of stone fruit by applying the GA7 as foliar spray within 12 weeks after full bloom, and preferably using the GA7 mixed with GA4.

Suitable stone fruit include peach, apricot, nectarine, plum, cherry and mirabelle but the preferred species are peach and nectarine.

Tests show that with suitable application of GA7, at least a 30% reduction (between 10-70%) in fruit set is achievable, it said.
 

Images:
1: Nectarine branch by Christopher Thomas (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
2: Harrow Beauty peaches at Lyman Orchards by Sage Ross (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons