Fruits, vegetables and flowers, once harvested, irremediably start deteriorating due to the gases they naturally emit, particularly ethylene, which accelerates the ripening process. For this reason, it is common for products to lose volume and colour during storage.
KEEPCOOL is a natural and ecological filter based on sepiolite, a mineral for which Spain is one of the largest producers. "Its main feature is its high capacity to absorb the ethylene released by food when it starts its ripening process, transforming it into CO2, which destroys bacteria, and water, which prevents dehydration," explains Juan José Caravaca, founding partner of this project.
KEEPCOOL was launched last year and it has already been approved for use with different types of fruits and vegetables. Recently, successful tests have been carried out with limes, a product with growing interest in the Spanish citrus industry, with the goal of minimising weight loss during storage.
After 10 days of storage at a temperature of between 9 and 10 degrees Celsius and a humidity of 80%, limes lost 6.39% of their weight. Doing the same test but using the filter, the KEEPCOOL research team found that weight loss was less pronounced, reaching only 2.22%.
Besides losing less weight, there was also a better preservation of the fruit's texture in the samples in which the filter was used, as well as the absence of signs of oleocellosis, or rot, as opposed to the limes that were stored without a filter.
"It's a non-additive preservative, which purifies the air without leaving a residue; it is not toxic or harmful to people's health and also eliminates odors in the chambers and refrigerators," he adds.
