- 2 



This storage has not yet been tested, 

 watch i ng . 



but it will certainly bear 



Another session of the conference dealt with atmosphere regu- 

 lation. The highlight of this session was a paper by Bernard Gaut- 

 ier, from Rhone-Poul enc Company, Paris, France. Mr. Gautier dis- 

 cussed the use of large polyethylene bags with s i 1 icone-covered 

 windows in them. These bags can be placed over pallets of fruit 

 and sealed, and the atmosphere in the bags will be determined by 

 the size of the silicone surface. The silicone regulates diffusion 

 of O2 and CO2 into and out of the bags. The size of the window 

 that would be used would depend on the temperature, variety, atmos- 

 phere desired, etc. These bags are rather expensive but can be 

 used for at least 4 seasons, and are being used commercially in 

 France . 



The use of these bags has certain advantages and disadvantages 

 Advantages include the facts that you can have CA without gas-tight 

 rooms; that the rooms can be opened at any time and individual pal- 

 lets can be removed; and that there is no human danger involved in 

 entering the room. Mr. Gautier also argued that the method was 

 25% cheaper than conventional CA. 



Disadvantages include the facts that it takes about 20 days 

 for atmospheric equilibrium to be established in the bags (although 

 once established, it is said to be very stable); that individual 

 bags cannot be checked each day; and that it is not easy to make 

 compensations for incorrect atmospheres. 



Mr. Gautier also noted that whole rooms can be regulated by 

 using large silicone diffusers for gas exchangers. Using this meth- 

 od, volatiles from the fruits diffuse out, but you cannot get CO^ 

 below 3%. 



It seems likely that use of these bags will be tried in the 



U.S. in the coming years, and it will be very interesting to see 



how well they work under our conditions, and to see wnat are the 

 relative economics of their use. 



This 

 Harv 

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i s a 

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res . 

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 , where 

 doi ng 

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CO2 



ana 

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 ai ni ng 



R.E. Woodruff (United Fruit Company) pointed out that bananas 



1-5% COo). but that banana ooats 



respond excellently to CA 

 are not equipped for CA. 



(1% 

 The 



0- 



current practice is to put the 



o > 



