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NOVEL PLA EMAP SYSTEM FOR CHERRY TOMATOES AND PEACHES ABLE TO
REGULATE THE TARGETED IN-PACKAGE ATMOSPHERE -PART II:
EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL VALIDATION

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 NOVEL PLA EMAP SYSTEM FOR CHERRY TOMATOES AND
PEACHES ABLE TO REGULATE THE TARGETED IN-PACKAGE
ATMOSPHERE - PART II: EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL
VALIDATION
Demetrios Briassoulis1*, Anastasios Giannoulis1, Antonios Mistriotis1
1
Agricultural University of Athens, Laboratory of Agricultural Structures, 75 Iera
Odos, Athens, 11855 Greece
*Corresponding author. E-mail: briassou@aua.gr

Abstract
An innovative biodegradable bio-based film packaging system has been
designed to achieve Equilibrium Modified Atmosphere Packaging (EMAP) of high
value fresh horticultural produce through optimised design of barrier properties
combining laser micro-perforation and breathable membrane technologies.
Laboratory experiments and 3D numerical simulations were employed in order to
validate an analytical model used for the optimal design of the innovative
equilibrium modified atmosphere (EMA) package. The tested commodities were
cherry tomatoes and peaches. Laser micro-perforated 30μm polylactic acid (PLA)
film was used as packaging material. Results from lab experiments and numerical
simulations were found to be in agreement with the predictions of the analytical
model. Comparisons with non-packaged commodities and commodities packaged
with conventional oriented polypropylene (OPP) show improved efficiency of the
PLA based EMAP system.

Keywords: numerical simulation, laboratory experiments, bio-based EMAP, PLA

packaging film, cherry tomatoes, peaches
1. Introduction
Equilibrium Modified Atmosphere Packaging (EMAP) is a method for prolonging
the shelf life of fresh produce (i.e. fruits and vegetables) by optimizing the in-package
equilibrium atmosphere (Del Valle et al, 2009). This is achieved by modifying the
permeability of the packaging film using micro-perforation, in order to optimally regulate
the equilibrium concentrations of O 2 and CO 2 . The in-package relative humidity (RH) has
also to be regulated, since it is responsible either for the excessive weight loss or for
enhancing fungal spoilage of the fresh produce.
Several research works can be found in literature regarding EMA packaging (e.g.
Del Valle et al, 2009; Gonzalez et al, 2008). Some of these works describe the
physiological properties as well as the gas transport and exchange process due to the
interaction of the packaged commodities with the environment, through mathematical
models (Paul and Clarke, 2002). As diffusion is the dominant gas transport process for
EMA packaging systems, cost efficient numerical simulations could be employed to
guide their design and optimisation. However, numerical simulation studies related to
fresh produce packaging optimisation, are rather limited (Rennie & Tavoularis, 2009).
An innovative biodegradable bio-based film packaging system has been designed
to achieve Equilibrium Modified Atmosphere Packaging (EMAP) of high value fresh
horticultural produce through optimised design of barrier properties combining laser
micro-perforation and breathable membrane technologies (HortiBioPack). The present
study’s scope is the validation of an analytical model (Mistriotis & Briassoulis, 2012)
developed for the optimal design of the innovative equilibrium modified atmosphere

1
(EMA) package for cherry tomatoes and peaches through laboratory experiments and 3D
numerical simulations.
2. Materials and Methods
The most common material used in EMAP of fresh produce and vegetables is
perforated oriented polypropylene (OPP), which has low permeability with respect to
relevant gases, namely water vapour (WV), CO 2 , and O 2 . Therefore, the synthesis of the
in-package atmosphere is regulated only by the size and number of perforated holes.
Biodegradable bio-based polymers such as PLA, starch-based polymers, etc. used for
the production of food packaging films have a water vapour transmission rate (WVTR)
much higher than the conventional OPP films. As a result, the effect of micro-perforation
is influenced by the permeability of the film. In the work of Mistriotis et al (2011) it was
shown that the effect of perforation on WV permeability decreases as the WVTR of the
film increases. On the other hand, the same biodegradable films behave as barriers with
respect to CO 2 and O 2 with similar transmission rates to OPP films. This versatility of
bio-based biodegradable materials offers new possibilities in optimising the design of
EMAP systems for fresh horticultural products while it allows for an environmentally
friendly disposal of the packaging waste.
Laser micro-perforated 30μm polylactic acid (PLA) film was used as EMA
Packaging material. This material is permeable to WV and almost impermeable to CO 2
and O 2 . This allows the headspace WV concentration to be regulated by the proper
design of the packaging film geometrical and physical characteristics, while the CO 2 ; O 2
headspace concentrations are controlled by the number and size of the perforations.
The targeted headspace EMAP conditions mainly depend on the packaged
commodity and the storage conditions. Extensive laboratory experiments (D'Aquino,
2011) have shown that for given storage conditions, specific in-package concentration
values of CO 2 , O 2 and Water Vapour (WV) could improve the shelf life and quality of
cherry tomatoes and peaches. Transpiration and respiration are both biological
processes and the corresponding rates vary with respect to cultivars. The transpiration
and respiration rates of selected varieties of cherry tomatoes and peaches under the
targeted EMAP conditions were defined in the framework of HortiBioPack (D'Aquino,
2011) as shown in Table 1. The typical storage conditions and the targeted gas mixture
in-package concentrations (expressed as partial pressures for 1kg of packaged produce)
are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Storage conditions, respiration and transpiration rates and targeted head-space
EMA Package conditions for 1kg of cherry tomatoes or peaches. (HortiBioPack)
Respiration Transpiration EMAP EMAP Targeted
Storage Rate CO 2 O2
Rate EMAP
Conditions (g(Η 2 Ο) d-1)
(ml(CO 2 ) h-1) (kPa) (kPa) Conditions
CHERRY TOMATOES
18-20oC 18-20oC
12-15 4-6 2-6 15-20
60-65% RH 80-90% RH
PEACHES
18-20oC 18-20oC
22-40 2-4 1-3 15-20
60-65% RH 80-90% RH

The analytical model (Mistriotis & Briassoulis, 2012) was applied to design the
optimal geometrical characteristics of the EMA package for the storage conditions of
Table 1. Two sets of typical EMA Packages were modelled analytically containing 250g
of cherry tomatoes and 1000g of peaches, respectively. Based on the analytical model
results for cherry tomatoes the targeted RH values can be achieved by using a PLA

2
packaging film area between 500-900cm2, while 5 micro-perforations of 200μm diameter
are needed to control the targeted CO 2 and O 2 concentrations (Table 1). For the
peaches the required PLA packaging film area was calculated to be between 1250-
2150cm2 while 100 micro-perforations of 200μm diameter are needed to control CO 2 and
O 2 concentrations. Based on these data, innovative EMAP packages were prepared for
laboratory experiments and were also modelled numerically as follows: 250g of cherry
tomatoes were packed in PLA film bags of 615cm2 with five 200μm diameter
perforations; 1000g of peaches were packed in PLA film bags of 1500cm2 with a hundred
200μm diameter perforations. In addition, conventional OPP EMAP packages were used
with laboratory experiments with 4 6mm holes for the peaches and 6 8mm holes for the
cherry tomatoes.
2.1 Laboratory experiments
The laboratory EMA Packages experiments were conducted in a 600l controlled
temperature and humidity chamber set at storage conditions: 20˚C, RH 65%. Two series
of experiments were conducted with peach variety Prunus persica
(Late production; September) delivered directly from farm: 1st Series: 15/9/2011–
3/10/2011, 2nd Series: 22/9/2011–13/10/2011 and a third series with peaches from
market: 6/10/2011–24/10/2011. Each PLA and OPP EMAP bag contained three peaches
(approx. 1000g); six repetitions were tested with PLA EMAP and five repetitions with
OPP EMAP, while four unpacked sets were used as control.
Two series of experiments were conducted with cherry tomatoes: cherry tomatoes
Ornella, the earliest production variety, were collected and transported directly from
Ierapetra, Kriti on 13/3/2012: 1st Series: 13/3/2012–in progress; cherry tomatoes Genio,
the smallest variety, were collected and transported directly from Timpaki, Kriti on
29/3/2012: 2nd Series: 30/3/2012–in progress. Each PLA and OPP EMAP bag contained
250g cherry tomatoes; for each cultivar, three repetitions were tested with PLA and three
repetitions with OPP while two unpacked sets were used as control n each case.
Every day each bag was weighed on a sensitive balance. The accuracy of the
balance was 0.02g. From the gravimetrical measurements the in-package RH was
calculated equal to 86% for the cherry tomatoes and 90% for the peaches. The CO 2 and
O 2 in-package concentration in equilibrium was measured with a QUBIT S147 Rapid
Response O 2 /CO 2 Analyzer device.
2.2 Numerical Simulation
A 3D numerical simulation has been carried out using the commercial software
ANSYS CFX 13.0. The underlying method of this software is the finite volume method
(Versteeg & Malalasekera, 1995). The EMAP problem was modelled as a steady-state
single diffusion problem assuming that mass transport through convection is negligible.
The gas mixture consisted of CO 2 , O 2 , WV and N 2 . The respiration and transpiration
rates were assumed constant (Table 1). Possible chemical reactions that may occur in
the gas mixture were neglected. The gas transport through diffusion is modelled in the
numerical simulations by Fick’s law (Chung et al, 2003).
A 3D parallelepiped package model was created and was assumed to be in
storage conditions, namely 65% RH and 20oC. Attempts to simulate the actual PLA
thickness of 30μm increased unreasonably the number of elements in the mesh as well
as the computational time needed to reach convergence. Instead a PLA film 1mm thick
was used in the simulations, with equivalent WVTR characteristics to the real 30μm PLA
film. The dimensions of the package for the cherry tomatoes were 9x9x12.6cm (Figure
1a) with an envelope area of 615cm2. For the peaches dimensions were 10x10x32.6cm
while the envelope area was equal to 1504cm2.
There were 4 perforations in the modelled 1mm PLA film, of different size for each
packaging case. The perforations diameters were 0.68mm and 4.0mm, simulating

3
equivalent real package perforation patterns of 5 200μm diameter holes for the cherry
tomatoes and 100 200μm holes for peaches, respectively. The fruits were simulated as
spherical objects based on their average diameter. The mesh was uniformly formed
except the locations close to the perforations were finer mesh was needed (Figure 1b).
Tests on finer meshes showed no sensitivity of the results.

Figure 1. a) The geometry of the EMA package models for cherry tomatoes b)
Numerical Simulation mesh

Kinematic diffusivities of each gas in N 2 were defined based on the international

literature (Massman, 1998). The entire model was assumed to be stored in 65% RH,
temperature of 20οC and ambient atmosphere of 21% O 2 and 0% CO 2 (set as mass
fractions).
The volume that represented the membrane was assumed as a volume where the
gas mixture diffuses differently for each gas. The kinematic diffusivities of the gases
representing their diffusion through the PLA film were measured at the laboratory and
they are shown in Table 2. Kinematic diffusivities through PLA were also adjusted to the
fact that the simulation PLA thickness was equal to 1mm for the simulation, while
laboratory results correspond to a 30μm thickness PLA film.
Table 2. Kinematic diffusivities for the numerical simulation of the EMA package
for 250g cherry tomatoes and 1000g peaches

Kinematic diffusivities in N 2 (Massman, 1998)

D CO2-N2 (m2s-1) D O2-N2 (m2s-1) D H2O-N2 (m2s-1)

1.40E-05 2.00E-05 2.50E-05

PLA membrane kinematic diffusivities for the numerical simulation (lab

measurements)

D CO2-PLA (m2s-1) D O2-PLA (m2s-1) D H2O-PLA (m2s-1)

3.2E-11 7.8E-11 5.8E-08

Even though transpiration and respiration rates vary, a single value was
considered sufficient for the purpose of validation of the analytical model and was
selected from the corresponding ranges of values shown in Table 1. For 250g of cherry
tomatoes the CO 2 production rate was chosen to be 3ml/h while the WV production rate
was set at 1.25g/d. For 1000g of peaches CO 2 production rate was set to 35ml/h and the
WV production rate was assumed equal to 3g/d. The O 2 uptake rate is similar to the CO 2
production.

4
3. Results
3.1 Head-space gas concentrations
The results of the numerical model and the laboratory experiments as well as the
predicted values from the analytical model regarding the in-package gas mixture
concentrations in equilibrium are presented in Table 3. The measured CO 2 and O 2
values remained constant through-out the experimental period as depicted by the low
standard deviation. The observed small deviations between the experimental and
numerical data were caused by the variability of the physiological processes of the
produce and are considered acceptable, within the range of the targeted EMAP head-
space conditions.
Table 3. Numerical simulation and laboratory experiments results for in-package gas
mixture concentrations compared to the analytical model predictions
Experimental Numerical Analytical
data data results
Packaging configuration CO 2 (kPa) CO 2 (kPa)
CO 2 (kPa)
RH (%) RH (%) RH (%)
Fruit: 250g Ornella cherry omatoes CO 2 : 4.0±0.1 CO 2 : 5.1±0.3 CO 2 : 5.0
Film PLA 30μm
Packaging material area: 615cm2 RH : 86 RH : 88±3 RH : 86
Perforations: 5 of diameter 200μm
Fruit: 1000g peaches CO 2 : 3.3±0.01 CO 2 : 3.4±0.2 CO 2 : 3.0
Film PLA 30μm
Packaging material area: 1500cm2 RH : 90 RH : 85±4 RH : 86
Perforations: 100 of diameter 200μm

Figure 2. Loss of water by peach (left) and cherry tomatoes (right) packed in the new
PLA-EMAP, conventional BOPP EMAP systems and unpacked
3.2 Performance of innovative PLA-EMAP over conventional packaging & unpacked fruit
The performance of the innovative bio-based biodegradable EMAP system in
terms of fruit water retention for peach and cherry tomatoes are shown in Figure 2. In the
case of peach, the new EMAP system results in an increase of shelf-life time by 12 days
assuming as threshold value the loss of 8% water. On the other hand, conventional laser
micro-perforated BOPP packaging resulted in serious water condensation problems from
the first week of storage. In the case of cherry tomatoes, assuming the same threshold
value of 8% loss of water as a limiting shelf-life time (at this level the tomatoes start
shrinking after two weeks under the given storage conditions), the average prolongation
of shelf life time obtained by the new PLA-EMAP system is ten days. The conventional

5
 OPP macro-perforated EMAP has a similar rate of water loss to that of the PLA-EMAP
system. However, the cherry tomatoes packed in the OPP EMAP showed signs of
shrinkage after 3 weeks of storage while no shrinkage deformation was detectable on the
cherry tomatoes packed in PLA-EMAP.
4. Conclusions
An innovative biodegradable bio-based film packaging system has been designed
to achieve Equilibrium Modified Atmosphere Packaging (EMAP) of high value fresh
horticultural produce through optimised design of barrier properties combining laser
micro-perforation and breathable membrane technologies. Laboratory experiments and
3D numerical simulations were employed in order to validate an analytical model used
for the optimal design of the innovative equilibrium modified atmosphere (EMA) package.
Laser micro-perforated 30μm polylactic acid (PLA) film was used as packaging material.
Results from lab experiments and numerical simulations were found to be in agreement
with the predictions of the analytical model. Comparisons with non-packaged
commodities and commodities packaged with conventional oriented polypropylene
(OPP) show improved shelf-life time of peach and cherry tomatoes packed in the PLA
based EMAP system. Research results on quality characteristics and decay control will
be published in due course.
Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the European FP7 project: "Development of
innovative biodegradable packaging system to improve shelf life, quality and safety of high-value
sensitive horticultural fresh produce" (FP7-SME-2008-1-232551-HortiBioPack)

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