Department of Agriculture to acquire 98 multi-functional ice-making machines

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) is setting up multifunctional freezers across the country in keeping with government efforts to provide farmers and fisherfolk with easy access to state-of-the-art postharvest facilities that will considerably shave their production plus marketing expenses and thereby boost their incomes.

A project of the DA’s National Agribusiness Corp., the government is acquiring this year 98 multi-functional ice-making machines using a relatively new brine immersion freezing (BIF) technology that will allow fisherfolk, for example, to store their fish in standard Styrofoam boxes for two to three days without using ice and still retain their fresh quality and taste, according to Nabcor spokesperson Kathyrin Pioquinto.

By first freezing fish or meat items in these BIF freezers using the liquid quick freeze (LQF) method, users can then store these commodities in conventional freezers or refrigerators for as long as six months to a year and still retain their quality and taste, Pioquinto added.

Hence, she said, “critics of this project are wrong to cry overprice because they are comparing the purchase cost of these mobile, state-of-the-art freezers with those of conventional or traditional, permanent and single-purpose ice-making machines that are widely used in the country.”

“It’s like comparing apples and oranges,” Pioquinto said in citing the superiority of the state-of-the-art on refrigeration design and one-of-a-kind feature of BIF equipment that Nabcor is acquiring from the winning bidder – the Integrated Refrigeration System and Services Inc. (IRSSI). “They (critics) may have been misinformed about these machines, which utilize the revolutionary BIF and LQF technologies to instantly freeze and preserve the quality and freshness of agricultural produce for as long as six months to a year.”

Hence, she said, the plunder case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman by militant groups led by Pamalakaya has no legal leg to stand on, she said, because it is based on trumped-up charges of overpricing and public-bid rigging.

Unlike conventional ice-making machines, she said “the technology provided by IRSSI can store agricultural produce like fish, meat, leafy vegetables and fruits in Styrofoam boxes for two to three days without ice, with the quality and freshness of these commodities remaining the same as during the day these were caught or harvested and then frozen through the LQF method.” “If these commodities are placed inside standard refrigerators or freezers after being frozen in BIF freezers, these can last from six months up to one year and still preserve the quality of these goods,” she added.

BIF is a take-off from the American and Japanese BIF technology of quick freeze, which was improved upon by a local group, which includes Filipino Hernando Decena, to make it to (-40 degree Celcius) a much lower operating temperature, more compact, more-cost effective, user-friendly and a multi-functional piece of equipment.

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

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.”

Under the old conventional handling method, Decena said “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 3 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 3-4 hours to freeze a product using the air blast system, he said.

Another advantage of these technology is its mobility and easy plug-in feature, Decena said, “A BIF compartment, which has a wheeled stand, making it easy to transport and move around and plug into any available electrical outlet,” he added. “The old-type blast freezer or holding freezer needs to be permanently put in place and requires large installation works and a massive separate electrical supply.”