Patent ID: 8828463

Claim:
A sealed container which comprises (a) at least 15 kg of bananas which have not yet reached their climacteric, (b) a packaging atmosphere around the bananas, the packaging atmosphere containing at least 10% of oxygen and less than 10% of carbon dioxide, with the total quantity of oxygen and carbon dioxide being less than 20%, and (c) an atmosphere control member which (i) provides a pathway for oxygen, carbon dioxide and ethylene to enter or leave the packaging atmosphere, and (ii) consists of a membrane which comprises a microporous film and a polymeric coating on the microporous film, the sealed container having (i) an oxygen permeability at 13° C. per kilogram of bananas in the container (OP13/kg) of at least 700, (ii) an ethylene permeability at 13° C. per kilogram of bananas in the container (EtP13/kg) which is at least 2 times the OP13/kg, and (iii) an R ratio at 13° C. of at least 2.