By Eamonn Ryan
After explaining how Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) works at a technical level, Perm Mthethwa from the Agricultural Research Council turned to where MAP is actually used and what benefits it delivers along the value chain. Speaking to cold chain stakeholders, she emphasised that MAP’s role is especially powerful for highly perishable and respiring products.
© Cold Link Africa
MAP is commonly applied to a broad range of fresh vegetables – including tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms and leafy greens – as well as pre-cut produce and ready-to-eat salads. These are items consumers often see in supermarkets in clear trays or bags with intact color and freshness well beyond what would be possible under normal air.
Beyond vegetables, MAP is used for fruits (such as apples, bananas, berries and pineapples) and for meat, fish, poultry, dairy and even some bakery products and snacks. While Mthethwa’s focus in this session was fresh produce, she noted that the underlying principle is the same: where respiration and microbial spoilage drive quality loss, a tailored gas mix can slow those processes.
The benefits are multifold:
- Extended shelf life: By slowing respiration, oxidation and microbial growth, MAP can dramatically lengthen the storage period. For example, tomatoes that might last 2–5 days without preservation could reach 21–35 days when MAP is combined with refrigeration.
- Maintained quality: MAP helps preserve colour, texture and nutritional quality, keeping products visually appealing and organoleptically acceptable.
- Improved marketability: Better-looking, longer-lasting produce is more attractive to consumers, supporting brand perception and repeat purchase.
- Enhanced logistics and trade: With longer shelf life, producers can supply distant urban markets and export destinations, reducing the pressure to sell quickly at low prices.
For farmers and smaller value chain actors, these changes can reduce distress selling, where producers accept poor prices out of fear that their product will spoil. Instead, MAP can provide more time and flexibility to reach better-paying markets and plan logistics strategically.
Yet, to see MAP’s full value, it’s important to look at its economic and systemic implications – how it reshapes post-harvest losses, profitability and participation in higher-value supply chains.
In the following article, we’ll focus on what extended shelf life means for farmers and markets, and explore the economic, logistical and equity implications of adopting MAP in fresh produce chains.