Looking for breakthrough ideas for innovation challenges? Try Patsnap Eureka!

Packaging for Extending Life of Respiring Produce and Other Perishable Foodstuffs

a technology for perishable foodstuffs and packaging, applied in the field of packaging, can solve the problems of shortening the useful life of perishable foodstuffs, microbial growth, and ripe produce has a tendency to bruise, and achieve the effect of increasing the shelf life of these perishable foodstuffs

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-02-19
BAG INNOVATIONS GROUP
View PDF13 Cites 31 Cited by
  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]The present invention includes a package for extending a useful life of perishable foodstuff that includes at least one polymeric based layer. At least one polymeric based layer contains an anti-microbial and anti-fungal additive in an amount effective to prevent product deterioration of the fresh produce due to microbial activity, fungal activity or both microbial and fungal activity. The at least one polymeric based layer includes an effective amount of an ethylene absorbing additive throughout a thickness of the film to absorb a sufficient amount of ethylene to delay the ripening process of the perishable foodstuff.

Problems solved by technology

In the past, fresh produce was only available for a limited time when the produce was ripe in a particular geographic region.
Ripe produce has a tendency of bruising during transport when compared to unripe produce.
Also because the unripe produce can be transported for a significant distance and time, the produce tends to begin ripening while in transport.
However, while the ethylene treatment or atmosphere accelerates the ripening process, the produce quickly begins to over-ripen and is edible for a significantly shorter time than naturally ripened produce.
Another factor that shortens the useful life of perishable foodstuffs is microbial growth.
Utilizing polymer bags for transporting the produce from the marketplace or various distribution centers can prevent the produce from respiring and essentially suffocates the produce such that the useful life of the produce is shortened.
Further, any moisture that is released from the produce pools within the bag and accelerates bacterial and fungal growth which also reduces the useful life of the produce.
Due to damage during transport, the accelerated ripening processes and improper storage of the produce, only about one half of the harvested produce is actually consumed.

Method used

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
View more

Image

Smart Image Click on the blue labels to locate them in the text.
Viewing Examples
Smart Image
  • Packaging for Extending Life of Respiring Produce and Other Perishable Foodstuffs
  • Packaging for Extending Life of Respiring Produce and Other Perishable Foodstuffs
  • Packaging for Extending Life of Respiring Produce and Other Perishable Foodstuffs

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

[0050]Fresh store bought cilantro was stored in a refrigerated environment at about 40° F. in a bag constructed from a three layer film having 3 weight percent of the anti-microbial and anti-fungal additive in the inner layer and 10 weight percent of the synthetic zeolite throughout the three layers of the film. After twelve days of refrigerated storage the fresh cilantro was still fresh and edible. In contrast, when cilantro is stored in a plastic bag from the store where the cilantro was purchased, the cilantro was only edible for about four days.

example 2

[0051]Flat leaf parsley bundles were purchased from a local market and tested at the University of Tennessee located at Knoxville. The parsley bundles were combined and mixed together in a clean tub. Three samples of parsley were removed from the combined bundles. Prior to placing the parsley in storage containers, each of the samples were weighed at 25 gram, then each sample was placed in a container and sealed.

[0052]The first container included a bag containing five layer polyethylene film that is 2.5 mil in thickness and contains 3 weight percent of the silver loaded zeolite in the first layer and 10 weight percent of the hydro-phobic synthetic zeolite in all five layers where the weight percents are based upon the weight of each layer. The second container included the five layer polyethylene film bag utilized as the first container that was sealed inside a plastic storage bag sold under the Ziploc trademark by S. C. Johnson Home Storage, Inc. located in Racine, Wis. The third c...

example 3

[0059]Multiple packages of fresh cut lettuce mix were purchased from a local market and tested at the University of Tennessee located at Knoxville. The lettuce packages were combined and mixed together in a clean tub. Three samples of lettuce were removed from the combined mixture of the packages. Prior to placing the lettuce in storage containers each of the samples were weighed at 50 gram and each sample was placed in a container and sealed.

[0060]The first container included a bag containing five layer polyethylene film containing 3 weight percent of the silver loaded zeolite in the first layer and 10 weight percent of the hydro-phobic synthetic zeolite in all five layers where the weight percents are based upon the weight of each layer. The second container included the five layer polyethylene film bag utilized as the first container that was sealed inside a plastic storage bag sold under the Ziploc trademark by S. C. Johnson Home Storage, Inc. located in Racine, Wis. The third c...

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

PUM

No PUM Login to View More

Abstract

A package for extending a useful life of perishable foodstuff includes at least one polymeric based layer. The at least one polymeric based layer contains an anti-microbial and anti-fungal additive in an amount effective to prevent product deterioration of the fresh produce due to microbial activity, fungal activity or both microbial and fungal activity. The at least one polymeric based layer includes an effective amount of an ethylene absorbing additive throughout a thickness of the film to absorb a sufficient amount of ethylene to delay the ripening process of the perishable foodstuff where the combination of the an ethylene absorbing additive and the anti-microbial and anti-fungal additive creates a synergistic effect that extends the useful life of the perishable foodstuff.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION(S)[0001]The present application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 964,518, filed on Aug. 13, 2007, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to packaging for extending the useful life of perishable foodstuffs. More particularly, the present invention relates to packaging that extends the shelf life of perishable foodstuffs such as fresh produce, fresh meat, fresh dairy products as well as floral products and bakery products.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In the past, fresh produce was only available for a limited time when the produce was ripe in a particular geographic region. With the development of a global economy with limited trade restrictions, most fresh produce is now available continuously throughout the year.[0004]To prevent spoilage and damage during transport the fresh produce is typically harvested before...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

Application Information

Patent Timeline
no application Login to View More
IPC IPC(8): B65D85/00
CPCA23B7/157A23B7/16A23L3/358B65D85/50B65D81/267B65D81/28B65D65/40
Inventor WAGNER, TOMMY J.ZIGA, MARK A.
Owner BAG INNOVATIONS GROUP
Who we serve
  • R&D Engineer
  • R&D Manager
  • IP Professional
Why Patsnap Eureka
  • Industry Leading Data Capabilities
  • Powerful AI technology
  • Patent DNA Extraction
Social media
Patsnap Eureka Blog
Learn More
PatSnap group products

Browse by: Latest US Patents, China's latest patents, Technical Efficacy Thesaurus, Application Domain, Technology Topic, Popular Technical Reports.

© 2024 PatSnap. All rights reserved.Legal|Privacy policy|Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement|Sitemap|About US| Contact US: help@patsnap.com