Ethylene Analyzer To Be Featured At American Society Of Horticultural Science Conference

Posted by Christina Herrick|July 29, 2014

The CI-900 C2H4 from CID Bio-Science is a gas analyzer that real-time measurement of ethylene gas concentrations in a compact package suitable for field and laboratory use. (Photo credit: CID Bio-Science photo)

CID Bio-Science’s CI-900 Portable Ethylene Analyzer will be featured in a workshop at the American Society of Horticultural Science (ASHS) Annual Meeting this week. The instrument will be introduced along with recent research and applications for ethylene analysis in greenhouses and controlled atmosphere storage using the CI-900 by co-designer Andrea Melnychenko in a session entitled “New Innovations in Commercial Horticultural Applications.”

The CI-900 ethylene gas analyzer provides real-time measurement of ethylene gas concentrations as well as oxygen, and carbon dioxide in growth chambers, greenhouses, storage facilities, controlled-atmosphere environments, and Modified Atmosphere Packaging. The CI-900 uses an electrochemical sensor technology that offers accurate readings as low as 10 parts per billion by volume in air.

Ethylene, a plant hormone produced in response to stress, ripening, or maturity, has been a useful agricultural diagnostic indicator for many decades. Traditionally, trace ethylene gas measurements were available only to those users, primarily laboratory researchers, who had access to gas chromatography or similar technologies. The CI-900 has been designed for in vivo studies conducted by field and laboratory researchers as well as postharvest cold storage facility operators who require trace ethylene gas detection capability.

“Until now, ethylene has been a wild card in horticultural product processing. This instrument brings lab-quality ethylene analysis to producers for a reasonable cost,” said Melnychenko. “Even trace amounts of ethylene can adversely affect outcomes for harvest, processing and storage.”