simplified procedure to determine the respiration rate of minimally processed vegetables in flexible permeable packaging

Knowledge of the oxygen respiration rate is particularly crucial for the packaging of minimally processed vegetables because these products undergo several procedures (cutting, washing, drying, mixing) which can significantly affect their respiration rate and consequently their shelf life. For the dealers and producers of these pèroducts, it is important to be able to quickly and easily measure the respiration rate in order to select packaging distribution patterns. This work provide a basis for implementing an iterative calculation flow sheet for predicting the evolution of gas composition inside the packages during storage from oxygen consumption rates in air determined with a flow through system. After an experimental validation of the computing procedure, it was possible to predict the oxygen respiration rate. The procedure developed seems to have the required features for its application in the industry, requiring only a small packaging machine, a gas analyzer and a computer