Effect of Argon on Gas Chromatographic Analysis for Controlled Atmosphere Storage

The conventional gas chromatographic (GC) method used to analyze the gas composition of controlled atmosphere storage or modified atmosphere packing of fruits or vegetables does not consider the presence of argon (Ar). This method does not adequately separate the Ar from the oxygen (O2) resulting in an overestimate of the amount of O2 contained in the atmosphere. A new GC method was adapted and tested to measure the concentration of the gases contained in a CA room. This method led us to observe that the O2 concentration was overestimated by a factor ranging from 5 to 80% of the reading when using the conventional method. Such an error mainly depends on the CA method used and the airtightness of the storage system.