Ethylene concentration inside tomato packages with a commercial ethylene scavenger

Packaging is an effective means to maintain the quality and prolong the shelf-life of fresh produce. However, ethylene produced by fruit and vegetables can accumulate inside the packages resulting in detrimental effects, such as rapid deterioration. Hence, ethylene-removing scavenging materials are incorporated inside packages to prevent ethylene accumulation. Ethylene concentration inside such packages is the result of a dynamic interplay between the ethylene production by the fruit, ethylene removal by the scavenging material and the film permeability as well as film perforations. In this study, ethylene removal by a selected commercial scavenger (Ryan®) was investigated. The ethylene removal by the scavenger was determined at different humidity conditions (0, 50, 100%) and further the ethylene removal kinetics of the scavenger was investigated. The impact of the scavenger on ethylene accumulation in tomato packages was conducted for a storage duration of 10 d at 15°C. The scavenger was not affected by humidity and the ethylene removal kinetics followed Lagregan first order pseudo kinetic model (R2>99%). The scavenger was effective in maintaining a low ethylene concentration (0.02 ppm) in the headspace compared to control packages (32 ppm) throughout the storage duration. The data obtained in this study can be highly useful in the development of a comprehensive model for optimizing and maximizing the impact of ethylene-removing materials in fresh produce packaging.