Carel
Antiques, art galleries & museums
Automotive & aerospace
Clean rooms
Cold stores
Crop storage
Data centres
Doctors surgeries
Electronics industry
Explosives industry
Food industry
Hatcheries
Hi-tech microchip manufacture
Hospitals
Libraries & archives
Offices
Offshore platforms
Paper manufacture
Pharmaceutical manufacture
Photography laboratories
Plant propagation
Printing industry
Proofing ovens
Textiles industry
The Home
Timber industry
Tobacco industry
Wine & Whiskey industry
Steam room
Chillers & Dry Coolers
Ambient Cooling
Adiabatic Cooling Ducted
Food industry
Productivity Productivity
Product Quality Product Quality
Bacterial & biological contaminants Bacterial & biological
contaminants
Capillary forces Capillary forces

Food industry

Foodstuffs are hygroscopic materials, i.e., they exchange moisture with the surrounding environment.

As regards to fruits and vegetables, there is often the need to cure the products for periods that may last up to a number of months and, if this occurs in conditions where the air is too dry, there may be considerable reductions in the weight of the products and consequently quality and economic losses.

Controlling the humidity helps to avoid weight loss, increases conservation time, and preserves the outer appearance and aromas. Ultimately the aim is to maintain the quality of the product.

For small areas humiSteam and heaterSteam are popular choices but consider the benefits of adiabatic cooling products such as humidisk (small areas), Humifog & MC (larger areas).

The following tables show specific relative humidity and temperature suggestions for fruits and vegetables:

 
Type of vegetable  Air temperature (°C) RH (%) Water weight (%)   
Artichokes 0 95 80  
Asparagus 0 – 2 95 93  
Beans 0 – 4 90 – 95 67  
Dry beans  10 70 11  
Broccoli 0 95 90  
Carrots 0 98 – 100 88  
Cauliflower 0 95 92  
Aubergines 7 – 10 90 – 95 93  
Lettuce 0 95 93  
Garlic 0 65 – 70 61  
Mushrooms 0 90 91  
Fresh onions 0 95 89  
Dry onions 0 65 – 75 88  
Parsley 0 95 85  
Fresh peas 0 95 74  
Dry peas 10 70 12  
Potatoes 3 – 10 90 – 95 78  
Pumpkin 10 -13 70 – 75 91  
Spinash 0 95 93  
Green tomatoes 13 – 21 85 – 90 93  
Ripe tomatoes 7 – 10 85 – 90 94  
         
Type of fruit Air temperature (°C) RH (%) Water weight (%)   
Apples -1 to 4 90 84  
Apricots 0 90 85  
Cherries -1 90 – 95 80  
Fresh figs -1 to 0 85 – 90 78  
Dry figs 0 – 4 50 – 60 23  
Grapefruit 10 -16 85 – 90 89  
Grapes -1 90 – 95 82  
Lemons 10 -14 85 – 90 89  
Oranges 0 -9 85 – 90 87  
Peaches -0.5 to 0 90 89  
Pears -1.6 to -0.5 90 – 95 83  
Pineapple 7 85 – 90 85  
Fresh plums -1 to 0 90 – 95 86  
Prunes 0 – 5 55 – 60 28  
Melon 7 – 10 90 – 95 93  
Watermelon 4 – 10 80 – 90 93