Post Harvest Management of Horticultural Crops

Precautions to increase pre cooling efficiency

Pre cooling- efficiency

Tips to increase pre cooling- efficiency

• Pre cooling should be done as soon as possible after harvest.
• Harvesting should be done in early morning hours to minimize field heat and the refrigeration load on pre cooling equipment.
• Harvested produce should be protected from the sun with a covering until they are placed in the pre cooling facility.

Precautions

• Since most tropical produce are sensitive to chilling injury, care must be taken not to precool or store the produce below the recommended temperature.
• All produce are sensitive to decay. Precooling equipment and water should be sanitized continuously with a hypochlorite solution to eliminate decay producing organisms.
• Care also must be taken not to allow produce to warm up after precooling. Condensation on pre cooled produce surfaces at higher air temperatures also spreads decay.