JP2769650B2 - Fresh fruits and vegetables freshener - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fruit and vegetable preservation apparatus, and more particularly to a vegetable and fruit preservation apparatus which can store vegetables and fruits in a fruit and vegetable storage room such as a home refrigerator for a long period of time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a method of storing fruits and vegetables at home, storage by refrigeration is known. In this method, the temperature of the storage room is maintained at about 5 ° C. by indirect cooling from the surroundings, instead of directly sending dry cold air into the storage room having a relatively high degree of sealing. Further, regarding the humidity in the storage room, the storage room is kept at a high humidity by evaporation of water from fruits and vegetables.

[0003]

However, the storage of fruits and vegetables in the above-mentioned vegetable storage room has the following problems. Fruits and vegetables maintain their life after harvesting by respiring to capture oxygen and release carbon dioxide. In addition, it produces ethylene gas as a metabolite of the respiratory action. This ethylene gas is a maturation hormone, which promotes the ripening and aging of the fruits and vegetables, which leads to a decrease in the quality of the fruits and vegetables and, consequently, the storage period of the fruits and vegetables. The amount of ethylene gas produced is
Depending on the type of fruits and vegetables, some types of fruits and vegetables are susceptible to the aging effect of ethylene gas and others are not.

[0004] Therefore, when storing only fruits and vegetables which are less affected by ethylene gas and have a small amount of ethylene gas produced, there is no problem with ethylene gas. However, when fruits and vegetables that produce a large amount of ethylene gas are stored together with other fruits and vegetables, allelopathy (allelopathy)
Is an important issue. In other words, not only does this allelopathy not only promote the freshness of fruits and vegetables that are susceptible to ethylene gas, but also fruits and vegetables that do not release much ethylene gas, when they are damaged, release ethylene gas. Ripening, fading of fresh fruits and vegetables,
Promotes aging and softening.

Therefore, when storing fruits and vegetables, it is important to remove ethylene gas discharged from the fruits and vegetables. However, in the conventional fruit and vegetable storage room for home use, there was no choice but to expect a decrease in the concentration of ethylene gas due to natural diffusion. It is said that ethylene gas affects fruits and vegetables when its concentration becomes about 1 ppm or more in the fruits and vegetables storage room. In a conventional fruit and vegetable storage room, the concentration of ethylene gas may be 1 ppm or more, and in that case, there has been a problem that the freshness of the fruit and vegetable is reduced by the influence of ethylene gas.

[0006] The storage humidity suitable for fruits and vegetables is about 75 to
Since it is 95% RH, it can be said that it is preferable to keep the fruit and vegetable storage room in a humid state. However, a means for supplying moisture to the air in the vegetable storage room has not been provided in the conventional vegetable storage room. Therefore, the humidity in the fruit and vegetable storage room only relied on the transpiration of moisture from the fruit and vegetable. As a result, there has been a problem that freshness of fruits and vegetables cannot be maintained for a long time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a fruit and vegetable preservation apparatus which can store fruit and vegetables for a long period of time in a fruit and vegetable storage room while maintaining the freshness of the fruits and vegetables. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, vegetables and fruits coercive鮮装of the present invention
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the device according to claim 1
Is a vegetable or vegetable that is placed in a vegetable storage room to maintain the freshness of the vegetable
This is a freshener, and the surface of a breathable porous material is
A catalyst layer for supporting radium; and
A blower fan for feeding air in the storage room, and the fruit and vegetable storage room
A water-absorbing humidifying filter for supplying moisture to the air inside,
Water supply means for supplying water to the water absorbing humidifying filter
It is something that can be done.

[0009]

[0010]

SUMMARY OF] According to the present invention, ethylene gas containing air blue fruit storage chamber is written Ri <br/> sent to the fruit or vegetable coercive鮮装location by the blowing fan. Then, the supplied ethylene-containing air comes into contact with a catalyst layer carrying palladium chloride on the surface of the porous material, whereby a hydration reaction shown below occurs and is decomposed into aldehyde isomers . Name your, the "surface" of the porous material referred to here, is that of the surface that is exposed to the air. Therefore, the inner surfaces of the pores inside the porous material should also be understood to fall within the concept of "surface" herein.

[0011] In addition , the fruit and vegetable preserving device comprises a water supply means,
A water absorbing humidifying filter to which water is supplied by water supply means is provided. The ethylene-containing air sent into the fruit and vegetable preservation device is supplied with moisture by passing through a water-absorbing humidifying filter. The supplied water is used for a hydration reaction represented by the following formula. Then, after ethylene decomposition, as shown in the following formula, palladium chloride and water are obtained by the reaction of palladium, hydrogen chloride and oxygen, and this water is supplied to the air after ethylene decomposition, The air that has become humid again is discharged from the fruit and vegetable preservation device .

C ₂ H ₄ + PdCl ₂ + H ₂ O → CH ₃ CHO + Pd + 2HCl Pd + 2HCl + 1/2 O ₂ → PdCl ₂ + H ₂ O

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a fruit and vegetable preserving apparatus according to the present invention. This fruit and vegetable freshening apparatus is composed of a main body 4 and a water supply tank 5 which is a water supply means provided at a lower portion thereof. The main body 4 has an air inlet 6 at one end and an air outlet 7 at the other end. In addition, the main body 4 includes a blower fan 3 that is rotated by a rotation driving means (not shown) provided in the main body 4 in the vicinity of the air inlet 6, and a pipe through which the air blown by the blower fan 3 passes. Function as

The main body 4 has a water absorbing humidifying filter 1 inside.
Is installed. The water absorbing humidifying filter 1 is formed of a sponge-like porous material plate having air permeability, and is attached to the main body 4 with one end thereof being immersed in water in a water supply tank provided at a lower portion of the main body 4. Further, inside the main body 4, a catalyst layer 2 for decomposing ethylene is provided. This catalyst layer is formed by supporting palladium chloride on the surface of an inorganic material or activated carbon having a structure having a large specific surface area and excellent air permeability like a honeycomb.

The fruit and vegetable preservation device having the above-mentioned structure is arranged together with the fruit and vegetable in the fruit and vegetable storage room. Then, the fruits and vegetables start generating ethylene gas with the start of storage. The air containing ethylene is sent into the main body 4 through the air inlet 6 by the blower fan 3. The ethylene-containing air first passes through the water-absorbing humidifying filter 1. The water-absorbing humidifying filter 1 retains moisture by sucking up water in the water supply tank 5 by capillary action, and supplies moisture to the ethylene-containing air passing therethrough. At this time, the humidifying ability of the water-absorbing humidifying filter 1 is determined by the relative humidity of the ethylene-containing air. Therefore, moisture does not condense on the surface of the fruits and vegetables.

The ethylene-containing air thus humidified is sent to the catalyst layer 2. Since the catalyst layer 2 is designed in consideration of the SV value so that the reaction can be sufficiently performed while passing through the catalyst layer, ethylene contained in the air can be removed while passing through the catalyst layer 2. Is decomposed into aldehyde and the like by the hydration reaction shown in the above reaction formula. As a result, humid air containing no ethylene is discharged from the air outlet 7 into the fruit and vegetable storage room.

In the above-described embodiment, the fresh fruit and vegetable preserving apparatus provided with the water-absorbing humidifying filter 1 and the water supply tank 5 has been described. Further, the mounting positions of the water supply tank 5 and the water absorbing humidifying filter 1 are not restricted to the positions shown in the above embodiment.

[0018]

[Effect] According to the present invention, it is possible to decompose the fruits or vegetables storage compartment of ethylene gas to aldehydes, influence Ripening fruit and vegetables by ethylene gas, fading, aging, since the softening can be prevented, fruits or vegetables freshness The period is extended, and fruits and vegetables having a large amount of ethylene production and fruits and vegetables sensitive to ethylene gas can be stored in the same vegetable storage room without wrapping. In addition, the fan
Air containing ethylene gas to the catalyst layer
Therefore, compared with the case of relying only on ethylene gas diffusion,
Gas can be decomposed efficiently.

Further, by Rukoto comprises a humidifying function according to the water-absorbing humidifying filter, it is possible to humidify the fresh produce storage compartment without relying on evaporation of moisture from the fruits or vegetables, it is possible to reduce the evaporation of moisture from the fruits or vegetables It can maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables. In addition, palladium chloride
Since the water required for the decomposition of ethylene can be constantly obtained without depending on the transpiration from the fruits and vegetables, the ethylene gas can be surely decomposed even when the amount of the stored fruits and vegetables is small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a fruit and vegetable preservation apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water absorption humidification filter 2 Catalyst layer 3 Blower fan 4 Main body 5 Water supply tank 6 Air inlet 7 Air outlet

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A placed Seika product storage chamber, a fruit or vegetable Ho鮮device to keep the freshness of vegetables and fruits, carrying palladium chloride on the surface of the breathable porous material
Sending air in the above-mentioned fruit and vegetable storage room to the catalyst layer and the catalyst layer;
Ventilation fan and moisture in the air in the fruit and vegetable storage room.
Water absorbing humidifying filter to be supplied, and the water absorbing humidifying filter
And water supply means for supplying moisture to the
And fruit and vegetable preservation equipment.