Uflex ltd. comes up with a solution for Shelf Life Extension of Fresh Produce

 Uflex ltd, one of the largest Ashok Chaturvedi companies in India came up with a solution to offer shelf life extension to the India Fresh Produce Industry with the help of the foreign technology partner. Explaining about the solution, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Uflex Limited stated that, “The solution Equilibrium Modified Atmospheric Packaging (EMAP) entails maintaining consistent oxygen and carbon dioxide inside the bag during the shelf life of the produce”

He further added that, “During the initial phase of trials, the technical team came up with the nuances of tropical produce and felt that the traditional polymers being used for shelf life extension of fresh produce may not work. Their sound logic was that most polymers available were either good barriers to oxygen or water and it is critical to have a unique polymer which could offer the precise requirements of both oxygen and water barriers. In fact, all existing fresh produce packaging solutions in the world grappled with the problem of water condensation inside the bag- a fact that was established during our market study. Also for products that perspired heavily, it was found that the MAP did not work due to higher CO2 inside the bag changing the organoleptic of the produce”

This is crucial for fresh produce packaging in order to ensure that the oxygen level is maintained and the product is kept in aerobic condition.  Mr. Chaturvedi further explained about the concept stating that, “Thus was conceived Flexfresh™ with the Holy Grail of oxygen and water barrier for packaging fresh produce. Flexfresh™ while maintaining the humidity inside the bag at 98%, keeps the product absolutely dry without allowing condensation of the humidity. This results in very low weight loss of the produce as it continues to breathe in hydrated oxygen available inside the bag. In several experiments on various products, it was observed that the ratio of oxygen and carbon dioxide has always been maintained at equilibrium. The film provides good release characteristics of CO2 emitted by the produce. This ensured that the producein a few cases could be protected naturally from diseases such as Botrytis, Gray Mold etc. using high CO2 content.The icing on the cake is that while offering all the benefits, Flexfresh™ Film is biodegradable by composting. Thus Flexfresh™ complies with all international regulations for overall migration (EC 1935/2004), reach compliance (EC 1907/2006)and qualifies for biodegradation under DIN EN 13432 (2000-12)”