When we buy produce we don’t expect to use them all on that day or do we? Sometimes we store them to avoid going to the grocery stores everyday before cooking up a tasty meal.I have always asked myself how these produce are maintained yet remain fresh. The answer was one that I didn’t even know of and many of us haven’t heard of it.
My aha moment came one day in a supermarket as I was shopping with a friend. I had the same question once again but I was too lazy to google it so I asked him. Luckily enough that was the project he was working on for his Bachelor’s degree. I was mind blown despite the fact that I am the one who was studying analytical chemistry and he expected that I knew this. That day I learnt about this new chemical that was discovered in the late 90s and has been in use for more than a decade now. I had made some assumptions about these produce without knowing the facts.
Awareness of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom
Socrates
Have you heard of 1-MCP? 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is used as a synthetic plant growth regulator. It is structurally related to the natural plant hormone ethylene and it slows down the ripening of fruit and helps maintain the freshness of cut flowers.
How it works: Ethylene is a gas acting at trace levels throughout the life of a plant by stimulating various processes such as the ripening of climeteric fruit, the opening of flowers (dehiscence process), and the shedding of leaves (abscission process).1-MCP tightly bings to the ethylene receptor in plants thus blocking the effects of ethylene. http://”Ethylene – Wikipedia”
Chemical Name: 1-MCP / 1-Methylcylcopropylene
Appearance: White Powder
Cas No.: 3100-04-7
Commercial Use: Fresh keeping agent, Ethylene action inhibitor
Advantages of using 1-MCP
- 1-MCP significantly reduces the respiration of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, delays aging and discoloration, and maintains hardness, crispness, color, odor, and nutritional content.
- Effectively enhances disease resistance, reduces decay, and alleviates physiological disease.
- No toxicity, no residues, environmentally friendly.
- 1-Mcp in powder form, it is easy to transport, store, and use.
Top Suppliers of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) include: AgroFresh(SmartFresh™), Pace International LLC(Fysium), Fine Americas, Inc.(EasyFresh), Hazel Technologies(Hazel),MirTech, Inc. (FirmConfirm) and Dora Agri.
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