New innovations, extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables
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Makintau - Fruits and vegetables are commodities that are not durable. The shelf life of fruits and vegetables is limited because it is easily rotten. It takes extra effort to distribute fruits and vegetables in order to get into the hands of consumers in a good state.
But don't worry, recently the Great Hall of Agricultural Post-harvest R&D released a technology to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. This technology utilizes nano zeolite as a fruit and vegetable packaging material to make it more durable.
Based on research, nano zeolite used in packaging managed to extend the shelf life of bananas by 30 days, salak fruit up to 40 days and red pepper up to 30 days at a temperature of 12-14 °C.
How does it work?
Nano zeolite acts as a substance that absorbs ethylene gas. Ethylene gas itself is excreted by fruits and vegetables in the process of ripening. This gas will also accelerate the process of ripening other fruits. So, an environment full of ethylene will speed up the process of fruit ripening.
Nano zeolites are estimated to be cheap enough to be mass produced. Because the basic ingredients, namely zeolite are found in Indonesia. The best zeolites are widely mined in Lampung, Banten, Malang and Tasikmalaya. Currently the price of zeolite is only 500 rupiah per kilogram.
Zeolite has long been known to absorb ethylene gas. Nanotechnology allows zeolites to be made in packaging form. In addition, with nanotechnology the absorption effect of ethylene by zeolite becomes multiplied. So that nano zeolite is believed to be more efficient than other ethylene absorbent substances on the market today.
This nano-zeolite efficiency is due to the very small particle-shaped zeolite particles. The small particle size makes the surface area of the zeolite even larger. So that the area of zeolite density with ethylene gas is getting wider which can eventually absorb ethylene faster.
With this technology, the Hall hopes to help reduce the loss caused by the decay of fruits and vegetables during distribution. This technology is quite simple and can be produced cheaply. It will be very helpful especially in inter-island trade or exports.
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