Measurement of Respiration Rate of Fruits and Vegetables in Modified Atmosphere Packaging

A new method for measuring respiration rate of fruits and vegetables in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) was proposed and the comparison with traditional method was made. The new method, considering the respiration rate and gas permeability simultaneously, computed the respiration rate by comparing partial pressure of gases which was calculated with material balance formula and measuring value actually within package. The results showed that the values of the respiration rate measured by traditional method are lower than the one computed by the new method. It would be proposed that the new method could be used over the whole storage period including steady and unsteady state and computed respiration rate is closer to the real one in MAP.