Enzyme kinetics based modelling of respiration rate for apple

A respiration rate model, based on enzyme kinetics and the Arrhenius equation, was proposed for predicting respiration rates of fresh apple as a function of O-2 and CO2 concentration and storage temperature. Several experiments were conducted at different storage temperatures for generating respiration data by using a closed system method of respiration measurement. In this model, the dependence of respiration rate on O-2 and CO2 was found to follow the uncompetitive inhibition. The enzyme kinetic model parameters, calculated from the respiration rate at different O-2 and CO2 concentrations, were used to fit the Arrhenius equation against different storage temperatures. The activation energy and respiration pre-exponential factor could be used to predict the model parameters of enzyme kinetics at any storage temperature between 0 and 30 degreesC. Respiration rates of apple predicted by the proposed model were found in good agreement with those obtained experimentally.