Antimicrobial mixtures of an essential oil derived bactericide and an essential oil derived fungicide which extend the shelf-life of perishable agricultural commodities

A system for prolonging the shelf life of perishable goods, comprising:

• a hermetically sealed container having an interior compartment for storage of perishable goods,
• a flow of gas minimized between the interior compartment and an environment outside of the container,
• the hermetically sealed container containing a perishable good in its interior compartment, the hermetically sealed container further containing a single antimicrobial binary mixture of volatile compounds derived from essential oils that transition from liquid to vapor phase in its interior compartment,
• the single antimicrobial binary mixture of volatile compounds reaching and sustaining a vapor phase concentration within the interior compartment for a period of time sufficient to kill and inhibit growth of both bacteria and fungi in the interior compartment, the single antimicrobial binary mixture of volatile compounds selected to achieve a lethality and an inhibition of at least one fungal species and at least one bacterial species, the single binary mixture selected from one of:
• hexanal/cinnamaldehyde having vapor phase concentrations of 2-25 ppm for hexanal and 20-210 ppm for cinnamaldehyde;
• hexanal/acetic acid having vapor phase concentrations of 2-25 ppm for hexanal and 2-36 ppm for acetic acid;
• hexanal/diacetyl having vapor phase concentrations of 2-25 ppm for hexanal and 1.0-22 ppm for diacetyl;
• 2-nonanone/cinnamaldehyde having vapor phase concentrations of 10-200 ppm for 2-nonanone and 20-210 ppm for cinnamaldehyde;
• 2-nonanone/acetic acid having vapor phase concentrations of 10-200 ppm for 2-nonanone and 2-36 ppm for acetic acid;
• allyl isothiocyanate/acetic acid having vapor phase concentrations of 0.2-2.0 ppm for allyl isothiocyanate and 2-36 ppm for acetic acid;
• allyl isothiocyanate/diacetyl having vapor phase concentrations of 0.2-2.0 ppm for allyl isothiocyanate and 1.0-22 ppm for diacetyl;
• thymol/acetic acid having vapor phase concentrations of 3-30 ppm for thymol and 2-36 ppm for acetic acid;
• or
• thymol/cinnamaldehyde having vapor phase concentrations of 3-30 ppm for thymol and 20-210 ppm for cinnamaldehyde;
• wherein the perishable goods comprise fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, and combinations thereof.