GRAINPRO, INC. - Hermetic Storage

Hermetic storage was used to store dry food crops thousands of years ago. Sealed clay urns stored underground in Persia continue to be found by archeologists with the stored grain inside.

Hermetic means airtight. Etymologists believe the word hermetic is attributable to Hermes Trismegistus, the Gnostic teacher and writer who was said to have invented a "magic seal" to keep vessels airtight.

The origin of hermetic storage is lost in antiquity. The important point is that grains stored in an hermetic environment do not spoil, nor can insects survive and consume that which is stored. Food products stored in an hermetic environment remain fresh and tasty; seeds maintain their ability to germinate.

Given modern mass chemical protection of foodstuffs, the single most important aspect of hermetic storage is that no chemicals are needed. Food stored in an hermetic environment is natural, unpolluted, organic and healthy.

GrainPro has taken an ancient concept and modified it, using modern technology, with stunning results. Ultra-violet resistant PVC airtight membranes fitted with extruded airtight zipper fasteners form a simple hermetically sealing container. Two pieces, no problems. These GrainPro airtight granaries require no infrastructure and no pesticides to preserve grains. They range from 0.5 metric ton capacity to larger than 30,000 metric tons.

GrainPro airtight granaries are relevant to the most modern organic farmer as well as subsistence farmers. They are also relevant to food security organizations, to feed mills and to the food industry. All want to have a storage facility that protects their harvests from insect infestation without resorting to expensive, noxious pesticides.

Organic Hermetic Storage - the natural respiration process of insects in dry commodities, or for commodities with high moisture content, the commodity itself creates an hermetic atmosphere. The Organic Hermetic Process has been successfully used for more than a decade. It involves a flexible hermetic enclosure such as the GrainPro Cocoon™ which has a low enough permeability to air so that after a few days (typically a week to ten days at room temperature,) primarily due to insect respiration, the oxygen level is reduced to a level which cannot sustain insect life, typically 1-2% O₂, while the CO₂ level rises very substantially. This is essentially an asphyxiation process. In this process it is common for the insects, once stressed, to climb out of storage bags and to be found dead in the liner of the Cocoon. The low O₂ environment prevents growth of fungi and aflatoxins and creates a very favorable environment to preserve seed germination capacity without refrigeration.

Vacuum-Hermetic Fumigation and Storage (V-HF) - With the phase-out of Methyl Bromide because of its deleterious effect on the ozone layer, and the decreasing effectiveness of Phosphine as insects become resistant, there is a need for environmentally sound, pesticide-free processes, both for medium and long term storage of commodities and also as a substitute for traditional quarantine fumigation or rapid disinfestation procedures. The pesticide-free vacuum process used as an alternative to fumigants has been given the new name of V-HF for Vacuum Hermetic Fumigation. In V-HF a vacuum replaces the fumigant, hence the choice of the term V-HF. Vacuum is also used with V-HF Cocoons™ for longer term storage to preserve freshness.

Gas-Hermetic Fumigation and Storage (G-HF) - This is a process whereby, instead of eliminating the oxygen with a vacuum pump or through natural breathing processes, CO₂ is rapidly introduced into a flexible container, to drive out the air and its oxygen with the least mixing possible. This is typically done in a very few minutes using bottled CO₂ or gas line. In some instances, nitrogen has been used instead, but this method requires a higher percentage concentration than with CO₂, which needs only to be in the lower 90% vs. the high 90% for nitrogen. This process is preferred where the commodity is crushable since the alternative of V-HF requires protecting the commodity against vacuum forces. The kill times are very similar to those observed with V-HF at room temperature, typically in three days or less for all life forms for most observed insects. Figs and dates are good examples of the use of this process.