EFFECTS OF POSITIVE PRESSURES ON BIOLOGICAL REACTIONS IN POST-HARVEST PRODUCTS

TODAY'S URBAN POPULATION IS ISOLATED FROM THE PRODUCER (FARMER) BY A MYRIAD OF INTERMEDIARIES, RESULTING IN EVER INCREASING PERIODS FROM HARVEST TO CONSUMER. MANY RESEARCHERS HAVE STUDIED INNUMERABLE TECHNIQUES TO EXTEND THE ACCEPTABLE POST-HARVEST TIME. NUMEROUS INVESTIGATORS HAVE CONDUCTED IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE ONGOING METABOLIC CHEMICAL PROCESSES DURING THE POST-HARVEST ERA. ADEL KADER (REFERENCE 1) ILLUMINATED THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS SUBJECT"...POST-HARVEST LOSSES...IS ESTIMATED TO BE 5 TO 25 PERCENT IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND 20 TO 50 PERCENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES". ADEL KADER, DR. HARDENBURG (REFERENCE 2) AND A HOST OF OTHERS CONCUR THAT RESPIRATION RATE IS THE SINGULAR MOST IMPORTANT PROCESS IN DETERMINING APRODUCT'S POST-HARVEST LIFE TENURE. MANY ADDRESS RETENTION OF MOISTURE, VAPOR PRESSURE DEFICIT, TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY. THE THIRD CONTROLLABLE PARAMETER - PRESSURE, IT APPEARS BY OUR LITERATURE AND PATENT SEARCHES, HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSES. THIS RESEARCH EXAMINES THE METABOLIC RATE AS A FUNCTION OF POSITIVE PRESSURE. POSITIVE PRESSURE TECHNOLOGY IN THE 1990'S WILL HAVE A GREATER BENEFICIAL IMPACT ON POST-HARVEST CONTROL OF THE WORLD'S FRESH PRODUCE THAN DID REFRIGERATION IN THE 1890'S.