After harvest, fruits and vegetables begin to degrade and deteriorate, losing characteristic freshness and nutriants. As a supplement to proper cold chain management, an atmosphere, other then air, can be sealed around the product. The technology of controlling specific levels of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen levels around fresh perishables, regardless of package type, is called controlled or modified atmosphere.   The economic value of atmosphere treatments is recognized by longer transits, distribution and shelf life times, less rot and decay, controlled ripening, and the control of specific post harvest physiological disorders.