MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC CROPS (2+1)

Harvesting, processing and yield

• Generally, the accumulation of glyco-alkaloid increases with the physiological age of the fruit and attains its peak value in the fruits of 50-60 days.
  


• This state of fruit growth coincides with the change in fruit colour from green to just yellow with streaks of green still present, after which the glyco-alkaloid content falls gradually with the maturity of fruits.
  


• The alkaloid is distributed throughout the fruit.
  


• It is, however, established that about 60% of this is present in the seeds and the remaining 40% in the pericarp.





• The crop takes about 6 months to be ready for harvesting.
  


• Harvest¬ing is one of the labour-intensive operations.
  


• The spiny nature of the plant hampers plucking the berries at the right stage of maturity, which is very important. During the first part of the harvesting season, when the fruit is big, on an average, one person with gloves can pluck about 50 kg of berries, while working 8 hours a day. However, some good workers in the peak season when most of the berries are ready for harvest can pick even 80 kg of berries per day.
  


• The figure is reduced to 40 kg towards the closing season when the fruits become smaller in size. The picking operation spreads over 3 months, because the fruits mature at different times. The processing of berries for marketing requires a lot of care. Fresh fruits contain about 80% moisture.
  


• The pharmaceutical firms need berries containing about 10% moisture. Hence, the berries must be dried in the sun.

Yield

• When the crop is grown by adopting proper cultivation practices, it may yield nearly 10,000 kg/ha of fresh berries which, in turn, will give about 2,500 kg/ha of dried berries.