Purfresh Transport Expands Global Trade for Sensitive Perishables
FREMONT, Calif.-(Business Wire)-September 2, 2009 - Purfresh, a provider of clean technologies that purify, protect, and preserve our food and water, today announced results of a series of studies and trials, all demonstrating that Purfresh Transport™ makes ocean transit a viable option for highly sensitive produce shipped worldwide. Purfresh Transport delivers where traditional atmosphere management systems and antimicrobials fall short by providing the unparalleled combination of superior ripening control with 100% residue-free decay prevention and enhanced food safety. Study and trial results from a variety of commodities, ranging from mangoes and papayas to ginger and cherries, show significant decreases in mold and decay, and an overall increase in quality including fruit pressure, weight, and sugar content—all valuable characteristics for importers and exporters.
Purfresh Transport, the industry’s only ozone-based, active atmosphere management solution, constantly monitors and dynamically manages the environment inside the refrigerated container throughout the voyage—providing the ability to ship even highly sensitive fruits and vegetables long distances. Using powerful ozone molecules to kill molds, yeasts, and bacteria in the air and on surfaces, Purfresh Transport provides superior decay control without impacting the product’s natural characteristics.
“Shippers used to have to rely on costly high-speed liners and air transport to maintain freshness of sensitive commodities being sent long distances. Now, with our Purfresh Transport system, they can avoid rigid delivery timelines and expensive transport methods while still ensuring the safety and quality of their shipments,” said David Cope, president and CEO of Purfresh, Inc. “Purfresh Transport offers importers and exporters a cost-effective, chemical-free solution and enables them to lower the risk of shipping premium produce around the globe.”
As demonstrated in the series of studies and trials, improvements in the quality of sensitive produce utilizing the Purfresh Transport technology were significant:
Mangoes: Mangoes are a highly sensitive commodity that provides unique challenges for shippers around the world. Incidences of over-ripening, decay, and rot make mangoes very difficult to ship via ocean containers. Purfresh performed a simulated transport of fresh Mexican mangoes from U.S. to Australia—a 22-day voyage—to validate whether ozone-based active atmosphere technology would effectively maintain freshness and quality during an extended ocean voyage. Mangoes stored in the Purfresh active atmosphere environment remained firmer than regular atmosphere (RA), and 50% of mangoes stored in the Purfresh atmosphere were rated as “firm” whereas only 17% of those stored in RA were classified as “firm”. In addition, the Purfresh technology effectively controlled mold compared with the RA environment, which showed signs of external and internal fungal infection.
Papayas: Post-harvest, papayas are extremely susceptible to quality reduction and diseases in storage and transport. A trial was conducted using the Purfresh Transport technology to ship papayas from Ecuador to Holland. After the 18-day transit, no visual mold or decay was present on the papayas. In addition, the papayas remained firm, and were fresh and shiny in appearance.
Ginger: As much as 40% of ginger can be lost during ocean transport due to mold and decay. Purfresh performed a study that simulated the transport of fresh ginger on a four-week voyage. No incidence of visual mold was present on the ginger stored in the Purfresh active atmosphere container for the entire experiment, compared to 58% of the ginger stored in RA showed visible signs of mold. The ginger in the active atmosphere environment experienced 33% less internal discoloration compared to the ginger stored in the RA environment. In addition, the Purfresh-stored ginger remained softer compared to the ginger in the RA environment.
Cherries: With a goal of enabling cherry importers and exporters to leverage more cost effective transport options, Purfresh undertook a study to determine whether Purfresh Transport could be used in conjunction with modified atmosphere (MA) bags to keep cherries fresh during long-range ocean voyages. The 25-day simulated transport of Bing cherries showed that the Purfresh Transport environment experienced 44% less incidence of mold compared to the RA environment.
Purfresh Transport is available as a per-trip service through ocean carriers.
About Purfresh, Inc.
Purfresh offers a range of clean technology solutions that purify, protect and preserve our food and water. Purfresh’s innovative crop applications, food wash systems and cold chain technologies effectively safeguard fresh produce before and after harvest. Our water technologies purify and disinfect bottled, pharmaceutical and consumer products. More than 350 customers in 32 countries rely on Purfresh to boost yields, control costs and improve the safety and quality of their products, including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Safeway, Orchard View Farms and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
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