How storage conditions affect products?

We did research with garden strawberries, cultivated using iFarm technologies that show what happen with some chemical components, such as sugars during storage. The berry was placed in a fridge for 11 days at 9°С. Using the method of chemical analysis we observed the content of such sugars as glucose, sucrose and fructose, which form sweet taste.

Sucrose, glucose and fructose plays vital role for human body. Sucrose is a combination of glucose and fructose. Glucose is the body's primary source of energy. It is delivered throughout the body by the blood to supply all cells with nutrition. Fructose increases the proportion of glucose stored by the liver, which resulted in its level decrease in the blood.

Garden strawberries grown by iFarm agronomists using aeroponics contain 1.8 mg of sucrose, 1.4 mg of glucose, 3.5 mg of fructose per 100 g of berries. When strawberries are stored in a fridge, sucrose is gradually destroyed and is not found in the berry starting from the eleventh day. The content of glucose and fructose in strawberries also decreases during this time, but is not critical, which is associated with the natural biochemical processes occurring in the picked berries.

Garden strawberries grown in iFarm laboratory using the method of low-volume hydroponics contain 1.0 mg of sucrose, 1.6 mg of glucose, and 3.3 mg of fructose per 100 g of berries. As far as it contains less sucrose than strawberries grown using aeroponics (for 0.8 mg), after a day of storage in the fridge it is not even detected in the berry. The content of glucose and fructose is also gradually decreasing.

Decrease of sugar in berries during low temperature storage resulted in the sweetness index decrease, which explains the increased sour taste in chilled and frozen berries.

Nutrients reduce after a few days storage in a fridge is a natural process for the products grown without preservatives, pesticides and antibiotics. That is how berries, greens and vegetables grow on iFarm vertical farms, which, after ripening, are delivered to shops and restaurants (in addition, produce can be purchased on weekdays from 10 to 19 in our company store at the showroom in Akademgorodok (Novosibirsk), Nikolaev str., 13).

Ultrafresh produce (with 2-3 days period of storage) is of great demand: many people are taking care of their health and are looking for fresh berries, herbs and vegetables. To meet the demand the produce should be daily delivered to stores and restaurants and therefore should be grown nearby.

05/07/2019