Post Harvest Management of Horticultural Crops

Dry cleaning Dressing and water spray

Dry cleaning

• In some cases cleaning is done by dry brushing instead of washing.
Eg. Removal of white cottony mealy bugs attached in between the surface holes of custard apple fruits.
• Some fruits and vegetables are just wiped with clean dry cloth.
• Fruits and vegetables which are not suitable for washing are: onion, garlic, okra, grapes, strawberry, mushrooms, etc.

Dressing

• Removal, trimming and cutting of all undesirable leaves/ stem/ stalks/ roots/ other non edible or unmarketable parts is called dressing. Dressing makes vegetables attractive and marketable.
• Trimming is done especially in vegetables and flowers to remove unwanted, discoloured, rotting and insect damaged parts (e.g., cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, rose, chyrysanthemum, gladiolus, tuberose etc.) or parts that may favour deterioration or damage during later handling. In case of grapes, trimming of bunches is done to remove the undersize, immature, dried, split and damaged berries. Trimming and removal of decaying parts are preferably done prior to washing. Trimming enhances visual quality, minimizes water loss and other deteriorative processes. Trimming reduces the likelihood of diseases or their spread, facilitates packaging and handling, and reduces damage for other produce.

Water spray

• Produce starts loosing water as soon it is detached from the plant. Water spray helps in compensating that water loss and maintaining the quality for longer period. Produce can also be covered with gunny sack soaked in cold water, if it has to store for longer period before sale.
Example: Green leafy vegetables