Weber Cooling has been providing vacuum coolers for indoor and vertical farm growers around the world. Although the crops are grown near the consumer, cooling is still an important part of the whole process to ensure that high-quality products are maintained for the end consumer. The harvested agricultural products are still alive. Without their roots, they will enter a state of stress, breathing (breathing) and sweating (transpiration) a lot. The only way to reduce stress is to let the product go to sleep by lowering the temperature to the "sleep state" as soon as possible. The temperature of most products is about 1-4°C (34-39F).

Vacuum cooling has been proven to be a very fast pre-cooling technology, suitable for all leafy vegetables and herbs. With vacuum cooling, you can cool leafy greens (such as arugula, watercress, kale, and all herbs) to 2-4°C/37/39°F within 15 minutes after harvest. In this way, the transpiration and respiration rate will be rapidly reduced, so that the green leafy vegetables maintain high quality and extend their shelf life.

As an added benefit, the residual moisture on the skin of the product is removed during the cooling process, avoiding condensation on the leaves and the appearance of fungi. In bulk packaging, the risk of condensation that is more likely to occur inside the packing is also minimized.

How does the vacuum cooling process work? You put the product in a closed room and then reduce the pressure to a very low value. By lowering the pressure, you can lower the temperature at which the water boils (evaporates). When the evaporation pressure of water drops below the product temperature, part of the water inside the product will begin to evaporate spontaneously. This process requires energy (just like any boiling process), and the only source of energy is the product itself, in the form of cooling. Therefore, the product cools naturally and quickly. As long as you continue to lower the pressure, the cooling will continue.

This process requires only a small part of the product's own moisture. According to Weber Cooling, every 6-7°C drop in temperature reduces the weight of the product by about 1%. If it is not cooled in a vacuum, the product may lose the same or more amount due to natural transpiration

"Because you can use vacuum to cool quickly, you can easily cool a large number of products with a small vacuum cooling system. A vacuum cooling solution suitable for one or two trolleys or trays is suitable for customer logistics and is the most logical choice for indoor farmers. For For large-capacity facilities, a double tray vacuum cooler is usually the best choice," said the WeberCooling team.

Leafy vegetables can be cooled in loose packaging or clamshell packaging. A 100% closed package is not suitable because the product will not be able to exhaust the heat in the vacuum chamber. In these cases, the product can be cooled by vacuum before the packaging process.

More information: WeberCooling Hans Juursema / Sylvia van Uden 00 31 612819917 svu@webercooling.com www.webercooling.com

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