Plantation Crops

Storage and seasoning of harvested nuts

• Harvested nuts are stored or seasoned before further processing. This practice has the following advantages:
1. Decrease in moisture content,
2. Increase in thickness of copra,
3. Increase in oil content,
4. Greater meat resistance to bacterial sliming while sun drying,
5. Easier husking,
6. Cleaner and easier shelling,
7. Uniform quality of copra, font

Post harvest processing
• In the traditional coconut producing States of India, the post harvest processing is presently confined to the production of edible and milling quality copra, coconut oil and coir and coir based products.

Copra processing
• Optimum moisture content in copra is 5 to 6 per cent. Sun drying, smoke drying, kiln drying and indirect hot air drying are the commonly used methods for drying coconut.

Copra grading
• The copra is graded in the order of its market value. The grading is mainly based on moisture content, the foreign matter and black copra.
Moisture : 6 per cent
Oil content : 71 per cent
Acid value : 2.5 per cent
Foreign matter : 0.5 per cent
Mouldy cups : 5 per cent
Wrinkled cup : 5 per cent (free)
Black copra : 1 per cent (free)