Ozonation

What is ozone and how can we use it in the fruit industry?

Ozone is a variety of oxygen and is commonly used for disinfection of premises, water treatment or as a food industry disinfectant. After oxidation, ozone is converted into normal oxygen. The basic disinfection advantages include its strong and rapid response to pathogenic bacteria (example: Salmonella, E. Coli). The result is fruit, which is biologically pure, intended for direct consumption, and at distributor level a product with an extended shelf life (on average 2 to 3 days depending on the fruit and keeping the cold chain). It is worth noting that ozone leaves no residues in food and is completely neutral in taste and odour.

Water samples before and after ozonisation:

In the plant of E.C.O. Group, a state-of-the-art installation has been created to generate ozone during individual processes, i.e. sorting, packaging and storage of fruit. Scientific and analytical support for our investment was provided by the University of Warsaw, the scientific partner of the project. Our research focuses on reducing the residues of plant protection products on fruit subjected to the ozonation process. This is crucial in the context of the production of food that is neutral for human health.

It is worth emphasizing the ecological aspect of the application of the ozonation system in our company. This technology allows us to biologically purify water used in the fruit transport routes, reducing its consumption by 87.34%. Our actions support the fight for the environment in the Grójec region significantly reducing “water footprint”.