JPH025384B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and storage for storing vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, on a relatively small scale.

When vegetables are stored in piles, they tend to rot from the contact areas. Furthermore, even if temperature and humidity are adjusted, long-term storage is difficult unless air flow is sufficient and uniform.

The inventor has discovered that in order to prevent vegetables from rotting,
After discovering that three conditions were necessary: 2) allowing air to flow, 2) not forming water droplets on the surface, and 3) not allowing vegetables to come into contact with each other, he applied for a patent for ``Vegetable Storage Method and Storage'' (Japanese Patent Application No. 63,746/1982).

The above-mentioned patent application, which circulates air whose temperature and humidity have been adjusted, is suitable for relatively large-scale vegetable storage. An object of the present invention is to provide a storage method and a storage warehouse suitable for storing vegetables, especially leafy vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, cabbage, and lettuce, which are more difficult to store than carrots and potatoes, on a relatively small scale.

The gist of the present invention is to store vegetables individually in a net and hang a large number of them so that they do not come into contact with each other, and to maintain a uniformly low temperature between each vegetable.
A vegetable storage method in which high humidity air, preferably at a temperature of 0 to 5°C and a humidity of 90 to 95%, is forced to flow, and a large number of vegetables individually housed in a net are
This vegetable storage is comprised of a storage that can be hung without contacting each other, and a ventilation and temperature/humidity adjustment device for forcing low-temperature, high-humidity air into the storage.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which vegetables 1 are housed in a net 2 and suspended from a hanging rod 3. Net 2 is made of roughly woven plastic string that allows it to be hung.

Figure 2 shows an example of a unit storage in which a large number of vegetables 1 stored in a net can be hung without touching each other, and low temperature and high humidity air is forced to flow uniformly between each vegetable. It is an explanatory diagram.
The unit storage 4 uses a heat insulating material 5 for its walls, and has 1 to 10 frame cars 6 each having a door wheel 8 that can accommodate multiple rows of hanging rods 3 in multiple stages (four stages in the figure). It is designed to allow charging in multiple rows. Air circulation fans 7 are installed on the upper part of the frame car 6, and a large number of fans (5 in the figure) are installed on a large number of hanging rods 3.
A temperature/humidity regulator 10 is provided to uniformly force air to flow between a large number of hanging vegetables 1 and to maintain the temperature at a low temperature and high humidity. Some of the air is extracted from the upper part of the refrigerator.

The air flowing between each vegetable should maintain a temperature of 0 to 5°C and a humidity of 90 to 95%. If vegetables are stored in this way, they can be stored for at least 6 to 7 months without spoiling.

In this case, if the temperature of the air exceeds 5°C, storage properties will deteriorate. If the humidity is less than 90°C, the moisture in the vegetables will be lost, and if it exceeds 95%, water droplets will adhere to the surface of the vegetables, which may cause them to rot. Note that the ambient air velocity is preferably 0.5 to 2 m/sec. In addition, the storability of vegetables can be further increased by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide gas in the circulating air or by adsorbing ethylene gas generated during storage.

There are no particular restrictions on the storage capacity of unit storage.
To explain one example, if the carts are stacked in 4 layers, each tier has 3 hanging rods, and each rod is used to hang 5 vegetables, 4 x 3 x 5 = 60 per cart. It can hold several vegetables.

If 4 frame cars are loaded into the warehouse, 60 pieces x 4 =
240 pieces can be stored in one unit storage.

Unit storage is suitable for farmers who want to store on a relatively small scale.

The example shown in FIG. 3 is suitable for preparing a large number of unit storage units shown in FIG. 2 and storing vegetables on a relatively large scale. That is, a large number of unit storage units 4 are placed in a warehouse with a heat-insulating structure. In this case, since the warehouse itself has an insulated structure, the unit storage 4 does not need an insulated structure, and the unit storage 4 can have a simple structure by surrounding the frame car 6 and the top with a material such as a vinyl sheet. can. Of course, one or several ventilation and temperature/humidity control devices with a load capacity commensurate with the unit storage are installed outside the building to ventilate low-temperature, high-humidity air, and inside each unit storage, they are installed above them. Air is forced to flow uniformly between the suspended vegetables from below by an air circulation fan 7.

If the warehouse does not have an adiabatic structure, a large number of unit storages with the adiabatic wall structure shown in FIG. 2 are housed.

In either case, one unit of storage is made and carried out from the warehouse, and the vegetables in the storage are shipped. Therefore, it is possible to prevent uneven air circulation within the warehouse and the formation of shoot cycles, and even if the required number of unit storage units are taken out of the warehouse, it will not affect the vegetables stored in the remaining unit storage units. It can withstand long-term storage.

Next, an example will be described.

Example: A unit storage unit as shown in Fig. 2, measuring 180cm long, 180cm wide, and 360cm deep, was constructed, and a 30cm square cabbage with its outer skin was placed in a net made of polypropylene string using three frame cars. Then, put 5 pieces on each hanging rod, 5 layers, 3 rows, totaling 5 x 5.
×3×3=225 pieces were accommodated. Inside the refrigerator, the temperature is 2~
Air adjusted to 3°C and 90-95% humidity was uniformly forcedly circulated between the cabbages in the warehouse at an ambient wind speed of about 1 m/sec, and stored for 6 months from November to April of the following year. When two to three outer layers of the cabbage were removed after storage, the inside was fresh with no rot or surface abnormalities, and even when cooked, the taste remained the same as before storage.

The storage method according to the present invention allows vegetables, especially leafy vegetables such as Chinese cabbage and cabbage, to be stored for a long period of time (6 to 8 months) on a relatively small scale to a large scale.

The storage of the present invention also allows for long-term storage of required quantities within the unit storage. Furthermore, even if a large number of unit storage units are stored in a large-scale warehouse, if each unit is removed from the warehouse according to demand, there is an advantage that the vegetables in the remaining unit storage units will not be affected.

Therefore, it is suitable for long-term storage of winter vegetables in cold regions such as Hokkaido.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings are all explanatory diagrams of the present invention; Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which leafy vegetables are housed in a net and suspended from a rod, and Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of a unit storage and temperature/humidity adjustment equipment. , FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a unit storage housed in a heat-insulated warehouse. 1...Leafy vegetables, 2...Net, 3...Hanging rod, 4...Unit storage, 5...Insulation material, 6...
...Frame car, 7...Air circulation fan, 10...Temperature and humidity regulator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Vegetables are individually housed in a net and a large number of vegetables are hung so as not to come in contact with each other, and air at a temperature of 0 to 5°C and a humidity of 90 to 95% is uniformly forced to flow between each vegetable. A vegetable storage method characterized by: 2. A storage area in which a large number of vegetables individually housed in a net can be hung without touching each other, and a ventilation, temperature and humidity adjustment device for forcing low temperature and high humidity air into the storage area. A vegetable storage characterized by consisting of.