The International Standards which have been prepared, or which are in the course of preparation, concerning conditions which allow fruits and vegetables to be kept weil in cold storage, make reference to the Optimum values of physical fac- tors which are used in industrial practice : temperature, relative humidity, air-circulation ratio, rate of air Change.
Storage practice has shown that the definitions of these physical factors need either to be made clear or to be repeated in Order to avoid frequent confusion (for example, between the temperature applied to the produce and that of the atmosphere in the store, or between the air-circulation ratio and the rate of air Change).
This International Standard draws attention to valid methods of measuring the physical factors concerned and renders it un- necessary to repeat systematically the definitions of these fac- tors in each International Standard, which would have the ef- fett of enlarging considerably each text intended for the users of International Standards on the storage of produce of plant origin.
2.1 Temperatures
2.1.1 Temperatures
to be considered
applied to the produce
For the cold storage of a produce of plant origin, several temperatures or ranges of temperature have to be considered :
a) lethal temperature : That temperature of refrigeration which Causes physiological freezing of a produce with the death of the tissues.
b) critical temperature : In
below which, for a given storage period and for certain kinds of fruits and vegetables, there result physical disorders, such as internal browning (with or without modification of the atmosphere), changes in the texture of the tissues (banana, cucumber, avocados, lemons, etc.).
In some par-ticular cases, it is the temperature below which it is impossible to obtain normal ripening after storage.
general,
the temperature
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