2. Slowing down biological processes in living tissue

2.1 Fresh fruit and vegetables

They are plant organs that are still alive when they enter the cold chain. As living organs, they breathe, transpire and give off heat. Separated from their natural substrate, they must continue to live in autarky. While this self-sufficient living situation can be considered a natural evolution for most fruits, it is artificial for whole plants that have been ripped out and organs severed. It is all the more traumatic for these plants when the organ is young (asparagus bud). As a living organism, a plant's metabolism decreases with temperature, initially – apparently – favoring survival, but becoming lethal in the short or long term, below a certain temperature known as the critical temperature T _crit . What's...