DA provides Catanduanes fishers state-of-the-art freezer

By Danny O. Calleja

Bato, Catanduanes (20 July) — A fisher folk organization in this fourth class fishing town will be recipient of a high-tech multi-function freezer worth about P4.6 million from the Department of Agriculture (DA) as part of the government’s efforts to provide farmers and fishermen access to modern postharvest facilities that will significantly boost their income.

To be provided by the DA’s National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor), the machine is a mobile type freezer that could instantly freeze fish, meat, fruits and vegetables and preserve their freshness for as long as three days without ice.

Nabcor president Alan Javellana said here over the weekend the freezer that would occupy only about six square meters of land area uses the revolutionary brine immersion freezing (BIF) technology.

It will be installed this month and awarded to the Batalay Fisherfolks Association (BaFiA), a 400-strong group recognized by the DA as a People’s Organization (PO) committed towards the protection of the local marine resources and the promotion of the welfare of marginal fishermen in the locality, Javellana said.

The use of the machine, he said, would be demonstrated to the public including members of the BaFiA to orient them on its operations and show them how it instantly freezes and preserves fish, fruits, meat and non-leafy vegetables such as okra, kalabasa and string beans without the need for ice.

Javellana said this state-of-the-art freezer is among the 98 multi-functional machines using the BIF technology acquired by the DA from the Integrated Refrigeration System and Services Inc. (IRSSI) to be distributed to selected recipients.

“This would provide access to storage at lesser cost for farmers and fishermen of their products in order to boost their income,” he said.

Storage of fish or meat using the BIF freezers in fact could be extended up to six months or a year without affecting its quality and taste when another technology called “LQF” is applied, Javellana said.

He explained that the technology is patterned from the American and Japanese BIF quick freeze system which was improved by IRSSI and endorsed by Filipino inventor Dr. Hernando Decena to make it operate at a much lower operating temperature as much as minus 40 degrees Celsius.

IRSSI also made the machine more compact, more-cost effective, user-friendly and multi-functional.

The BIF is a “revolutionary method” in preserving aquatic products, meat, fruits and vegetables using super-conductive solution as secondary refrigerant which Decena developed, Javellana said.

He explained that BIF allows instant freezing, which, as a result, eliminates crystallization, thus preserving the freshness, flavor and texture of the frozen product.

“A superb feature of this technology is that the quality of the BIF-frozen fish stays the same after two to three days, so that it tastes as fresh or as good as newly caught fish when grilled or cooked any other way,” he said.

Under the old conventional handling method, Javellana said that “we need to put ice to preserve fish and other perishable food items which leads to crystallization that alters the quality and freshness of the frozen product. Hence, the marked difference in the texture and taste of newly caught fish from those that had been stored in the freezer or in ice-packed Styrofoam boxes.”

Moreover, it takes as little as three to 30 minutes, depending on type, size and volume of product to be process, to freeze a product using BIF, compared to the conventional method, which takes three to four hours to freeze a product using the air blast system, he said.

Another advantage of this technology is its mobility and easy plug-in feature. “A BIF compartment, which has a wheeled stand, making it easy to transport and move around and plug into any available electrical outlet,” Javellana said.

The old-type blast freezer or holding freezer on the other hand needs to be permanently put in place and requires large installation works and a massive separate electrical supply, he added. (PNA Bicol)