A METHOD OF STUDYING THE MOVEMENT OF RESPIRATORY GASES THROUGH WAXY COATINGS

It is commonly assumed, when considering the movement of carbon dioxide and oxygen through waxy coatings applied to fruits and vegetables as a preservative measure, that the movement of water vapor, as measured by loss in weight, is an index of the efficiency of the coating in impeding the movement of all gases. This obviously is not necessarily so, and some direct method of measuring the permeability of such coatings to oxygen and carbon dioxide would be of value in studying the behavior of fruits and vegetables which have been waxed to increase their storage life. This has been accomplished, using a small cucurbit fruit as a test object, by determining the effect of the coating upon the composition of gases in the internal cavity.