An innovative new method of wrapping fruit and vegetables has been credited with significant shelf-life extension of between two and five days.
Recent trials of a new film product, Sira-Flex Resolve, from Sirane, based in the UK but with significant operations in Australia, have achieved a reported four additional days shelf-life with potatoes and equally significant results with other fruit and vegetables.
Sirane says the new film has been developed to provide an optimum balance between humidity control and O2 and CO2 permeability.
The permeability is temperature dependent, so the company claims a perfect atmosphere is maintained inside the pack even if the storage temperature is variable.
“The results are remarkable. There is no condensation on the inside of the film and the product does not dry out,” Sirane's managing director, Simon Balderson, says.
“The package atmosphere is maintained with the optimum balance of atmospheric gases to prevent degradation.
“In simple terms, the food lasts longer.”
He says a particularly noteworthy achievement was in the range of produce for which it was able to extend shelf life.
“Shelf life extension of several days and more is achieved for many products,” he said.
“The film is suitable for all types of vegetables including salads as well as many types of fresh fruit.”
The Sira-Flex Resolve film is a natural bio-polymer made from plants. It is sustainable and fully compostable.
Balderson explains that the permeability of the wrap was controlled by the property of the film itself.
Due to the structure of the film material, the permeability to humidity, O2 and CO2 is different in each case.
“This has allowed Sirane’s team of scientists to balance the permeability of each component to achieve the optimum result,” he says.
Most importantly, Balderson says, the film could play a valuable role in cutting back on food waste being thrown away by customers and retailers.
”Shelf-life extension is the holy grail for the fruit and vegetable industry. A huge amount of food is wasted because it goes off before it is eaten,” Balderson says.
“The supermarkets throw loads away every day. Consumers do the same of course.”
