The U.S. Navy is experimenting with technology to maintain freshness of fruits and vegetables aboard ships.
Primaira LLC The U.S. Navy is experimenting with ethylene control systems to help preserve the freshness of fruits and vegetables aboard its ships.
The Bluezone fresh preservation systems are being installed on two aircraft containers. Navy foodservice officials say they hope the technology helps encourage personnel to eat more fresh produce while at sea.
The Navy is installing ethylene control systems on two aircraft carriers, the Eisenhower in Norfolk, Va., and the Carol Vinson in San Diego.
As the technology helps store produce longer, Navy foodservice officials say they hope it could help encourage sailors to eat more fresh produce.
Depending how the tests fare, the Navy is considering installing the small and self-contained units in other ships to help extend fruit and vegetable shelf life, said Commander Danny King, director of Navy Foodservice in McKeansburg, Pa.
Mounted inside refrigerated containers, the technology can boost shelf life by a couple of days to up to 21 days, critical for ships on long ocean journeys, King said.
King said extending shelf life should support the Navy’s efforts to promote health and nutrition.
“The investment costs are minimal compared to the return,” King said. “Extending the shelf life by even a couple of days helps out. There’s a big cost savings there as far as fresh fruits and vegetables going bad in some cases if they’re not eaten within a certain period of time.
“Even extending it a couple of days is a big plus,” he said. “It can mean the difference between your next underway ship-to-ship replenishment.”
In addition to the installations on ships, the Navy is testing the ethylene systems on other non-Navy military applications, including refrigerated containers, said Tony Patti, team leader of the equipment and energy technology group with the Defense Department’s Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass.
The ethylene units, which cost $300 a year to maintain, take advantage of ultraviolet light and ozone technology inside the box, Patti said.
“These units really extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by detecting and absorbing the gas producing ethylene,” he said. “It also reduces and absorbs the odor impact, particularly if the fruit rots. It eliminates spore, molds and microbes, which produce safety issues.”
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