Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops: Practices For Quality Preservation
Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops: Practices For Quality Preservation
MANAGEMENT OF
HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Practices for Quality Preservation
Postharvest Biology and Technology
POSTHARVEST
MANAGEMENT OF
HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Practices for Quality Preservation
Edited by
Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui, PhD
Asgar Ali, PhD
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Dedication..................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments......................................................................................... ix
List of Contributors...................................................................................... xi
List of Abbreviations.................................................................................. xiii
About the Book Series: Postharvest Biology and Technology.....................xv
Books in the Postharvest Biology and Technology Series......................... xvii
About the Editors....................................................................................... xix
Preface..................................................................................................... xxiii
1. Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce....... 1
Atef M. Elansari and Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui
2. Postharvest Handling and Storage of Root and Tubers........................ 69
Munir Abba Dandago
3. Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers................................ 91
Sunil Kumar, Kalyan Barman, and Swati Sharma
4. Postharvest Management and Processing Technology
of Mushrooms.......................................................................................... 151
M. K. Yadav, Santosh Kumar, Ram Chandra, S. K. Biswas,
P. K. Dhakad, and Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui
5. Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality
of Horticultural Produce........................................................................ 179
Venkata Satish Kuchi, J. Kabir, and Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui
6. Advances in Packaging of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables...................... 231
Alemwati Pongener and B. V. C. Mahajan
7. Fresh-Cut Produce: Advances in Preserving Quality
and Ensuring Safety................................................................................ 265
Ovais Shafiq Qadri, Basharat Yousuf, and Abhaya Kumar Srivastava
viii Contents
Kalyan Barman
Department of Horticulture (Fruit and Fruit Technology), Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour,
Bhagalpur – 813210, Bihar, India
S. K. Biswas
Department of Plant Pathology, C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, 208002,
Uttar Pradesh, India
Ram Chandra
Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi, 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India
Atef M. Elansari
Agricultural and Bio-Engineering Department, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt; E-mail:
[email protected]
J. Kabir
Department of Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya,
Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal–741252, India
Santosh Kumar
Department of Plant Pathology, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, 813210, Bihar,
India, E-mail: [email protected]
Sunil Kumar
Department of Horticulture, North Eastern Hill University, Tura Campus, West Garo Hills District,
Tura – 794002, Meghalaya, India, E-mail: [email protected]
B. V. C. Mahajan
Punjab Horticultural Postharvest Technology Centre, PAU, Ludhiana, 141004, Punjab, India
Alemwati Pongener
ICAR-National Research Centre on Litchi, Mushahari, Muzaffarpur, 842002, Bihar, India,
E-mail: [email protected]
xii List of Contributors
Swati Sharma
ICAR-National Research Centre on Litchi, Mushahari Farm, Mushahari, Muzaffarpur – 842002,
Bihar, India
M. K. Yadav
Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi, 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India
S. M. Yahaya
Department of Biology, Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, P.M.B. 3244, Nigeria,
E-mail: [email protected]
Basharat Yousuf
Department of Postharvest Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, India,
E-mail: [email protected], Tel.: +91-9419041070
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
As we know, preserving the quality of fresh produce has long been a chal-
lenging task. In the past, several approaches were in use for the posthar-
vest management of fresh produce, but due to continuous advancement in
technology, the increased health consciousness of consumers, and envi-
ronmental concerns, these approaches have been modified and enhanced
to address these issues and concerns.
The Postharvest Biology and Technology series presents edited
books that addressmany important aspects related to postharvest technol-
ogy of fresh produce. The series presents existing and novel management
systems that are in use today or that have great potential to maintain the
postharvest quality of fresh produce in terms of microbiological safety,
nutrition, and sensory quality.
The books are aimed at professionals, postharvest scientists, academi-
cians researching postharvest problems, and graduate-level students.This
series is intended to be a comprehensive venture that provides up-to-date
scientific and technical information focusing on postharvest management
for fresh produce.
Editor-in-Chief:
Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui, PhD
Scientist-cum-Assistant Professor | Bihar Agricultural University
Department of Food Science and Technology | Sabour | Bhagalpur | Bihar
| INDIA
AAP Sr. Acquisitions Editor, Horticultural Science
Founding/Managing Editor, Journal of Postharvest Technology
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
BOOKS IN THE POSTHARVEST BIOLOGY
AND TECHNOLOGY SERIES
Board Member and Life Time Author. He has been an active member of
the organizing committees of several national and international seminars/
conferences/summits. He is one of key members in establishing the World
Food Preservation Center (WFPC), LLC, USA. Presently, he is an active
associate and supporter of WFPC, LLC, USA. Considering his outstanding
contribution in science and technology, his biography has been published
in “Asia Pacific Who’s Who” and “The Honored Best Citizens of India.”
Dr. Siddiqui acquired a BSc (Agriculture) degree from Jawaharlal
Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, India. He received MSc
(Horticulture) and PhD (Horticulture) degrees from Bidhan Chandra
Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, India, with specialization in
the Postharvest Technology. He was awarded the Maulana Azad National
Fellowship Award from the University Grants Commission, New Delhi,
India. He is a member of Core Research Group at the Bihar Agricultural
University (BAU) where he is providing appropriate direction and assis-
tance to sensitize priority of the research. He has received several grants
from various funding agencies to carry out his research projects. Dr.
Siddiqui has been associated with postharvest technology and process-
ing aspects of horticultural crops. He is dynamically involved in teaching
(graduate and doctorate students) and research, and he has proved himself
as an active scientist in the area of Postharvest Technology.
CONTENTS
Abstract...................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Introduction....................................................................................... 3
1.2 The Importance of Precooling.......................................................... 5
1.3 Approaching the Optimum Precooling Method................................ 6
1.3.1 How Does the Fresh Produce get Precooled?....................... 7
1.3.2 Heat Load Calculations?....................................................... 8
1.4 Types of Air Pre-Cooling Methods................................................... 9
1.4.1 Natural Convection Air-Cooling
(Room Cooling Method)....................................................... 9
1.4.1.1 Modified Room Cooling Method......................... 12
1.4.2 Forced Air-Cooling............................................................. 13
1.5 Packaging........................................................................................ 17
1.6 Capacity Design.............................................................................. 18
2 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
1.7
System Classification.................................................................... 20
1.7.1 Wet Cooling System (Ice Banks)...................................... 20
1.7.2 Dry System....................................................................... 24
1.8 Mobile Pre-Cooling Facilities....................................................... 26
1.9 Hydrocooling................................................................................ 29
1.10 Vacuum Cooling............................................................................ 34
1.11 Water Loss During Vacuum Cooling Determination.................... 39
1.12 Mathematical Modeling of Vacuum Cooling Process.................. 40
1.13 Features and Benefits of Vacuum Cooling ................................... 42
1.14 Slurry Ice....................................................................................... 42
1.14.1 Direct Use of Slurry Ice.................................................. 43
1.14.2 Indirect Use of Slurry Ice................................................ 46
1.15 Control of the Cold Chain Projects............................................... 47
1.16 Variable Frequency Drive and Control Strategy........................... 49
1.17 Temperature and Relative Humidity Control................................ 52
1.18 Energy Saving............................................................................... 56
1.19 Maintenance.................................................................................. 59
1.20 Conclusion.................................................................................... 60
Keywords................................................................................................. 60
References................................................................................................ 60
ABSTRACT
Temperature is the most single important factor that affects the quality
and the shelf life and horticultural crops. The process of precooling is the
removal of field heat as soon as possible after harvest since field heat arrest
the deterioration and senescence process. The precooling process can be
achieved via different methods forced air-cooling, hydrocooling, vacuum,
slurry ice and evaporative cooling. Forced air precooling is the most com-
mon technique and is adapted to many commodities. The classification of
the forced air precooling process includes wet deck system and the dry coil
technique. Wet deck system is a mechanism, which provides air of low
temperature and higher level of relative humidity, which minimizes the
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 3
weight loss of produce during the process of cooling. Dry coil system uses
a direct expansion or secondary coolant coil sized to operate at a small
temperature difference, which will maintain a high relative humidity of
the leaving air stream. An evaluation of precooling systems is presented
through the current study that exhibits a description of the theory behind
each system and its different components. Different control, management
and monitoring requirement are discussed with the most recent advances.
Maintenance to extend the lifetime of the hard ware and maximize system
credibility is also presented. Through this chapter, it is aimed to promote
interest in precooling and encourage its use on a more widespread basis
via the illustration of the different systems details.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Within the cold chain, temperature is the greatest determent and the most
significant environmental factor that influences the deterioration rate of
harvested commodities. The rate of respiration, and subsequently the rate
of heat production depends on temperature, the higher the temperature, the
higher the rate. Rapid precooling to the product’s lowest safe temperature
is most critical for Fresh produce with inherently high respiration rates.
Rapid precooling is the first operation of the cold chain to be started from
the instant of harvest, and considered the key element in modern marketing
chain of fruits and vegetables. It removes field heat after harvesting, reduce
breath function, retard ripening and control microbial processes (Siddiqui,
2015). It is also enhance keeping nutrition ingredients and fresh degree,
improving cold-resisting ability, and avoiding chilling injury (Yahia and
Smolak, 2014). Furthermore, precooling minimize the designed heat load
needed for cold rooms and transport equipments. Investigations show that
the postharvest losses of commercial fruit and vegetable is almost up to
25–30% without precooling in the whole storing and transporting chain
while it is only 5–10% through precooling (Yang et al., 2007).
Postharvest cooling also provides marketing flexibility by allowing
the grower to sell produce at the most appropriate time. Precooling also is
applied as an important unit operation for post heat treatment for certain
fruits (El-Ramady et al., 2015). The use of precooling after air-shipment
can extend the shelf-life of certain fresh produce for considerable periods,
by reducing the loss of moisture and maintaining a better firmness and tex-
ture and by limiting the increase of fiber content (Laurin et al., 2003, 2005).
Precooling can be ranked as the most essential of the value added market-
ing services demanded by increasingly more sophisticated consumers.
The primary function of a well designed pre-cooling system is to be
energy efficient and provide sufficient cooling capacity to ensure rapid
pull down to desired temperature of a pallet load in certain conditions that
are required by a product or process within a given space and time. A well-
designed precooling system not only avoids wastage of electrical energy
but also restricts the moisture loss within permissible limit. An accurate
estimation of refrigeration load is the basis of designing and operating any
type of precooling system. Refrigeration load is the rate of heat removal
6 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
required to keep both the space and the product at the desired condition.
The product-cooling load is one of the most important components of the
refrigeration load, which contributes about two-thirds toward the total
refrigeration load during the transient cooling period (Mukhopadhyay and
Maity, 2015). To perform this function, equipment of the proper capacity
and type must be selected, installed and controlled on a 24-h basis. The
equipment capacity is determined by the actual instantaneous peak load
requirements.
Thus, the refrigeration capacity in addition to cooling medium move-
ment and operation control of the precooling process makes it different
than just storing products in a conventional cold storage room. Therefore,
pre-cooling must be considered independently from the cold storage and is
typically a separate operation that requires specially designed equipment
(Elansari, 2009).
The capital investment and the running costs vary significantly among
different pre-cooling methods. As an added value service, the expense
of the selected technique must be covered through selling prices or other
economic benefits. Various possible trades-offs can occur concerning the
selection of certain method. Such practices may be based on certain condi-
tions, such as amount and mix of produce handled, duration of pre-cooling
season and its regional location, physical characteristics of the produce
and its tolerance, specific market requirements, allowable pull-down time
and the final desired temperature, sanitation level required to reduce decay
organisms, packaging applied, further storage and shipping conditions,
energy cost and availability, labor requirement, interest rates, building
and equipment capital cost and its maintenance (Becker and Brian, 2006).
These factors if not properly optimized, can lead to pre-cooling systems
that do not achieve the required objectives or the cost benefit associated
with the whole process is not feasible.
The process of heat removal from fresh produce can be achieved by
several different methods; all involve the rapid transfer of heat from the
product to a cooling medium, such as water, air, or ice. Such methods
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 7
• The temperature of the air inside the cooling facility is lower than the
load of fresh produce, so the heat is moving out of the fruit to the sur-
rounding air.
• During rapid heat transfer, a temperature gradient develops within the
product, with faster cooling causing larger gradients. This gradient is
a function of product properties, surface heat transfer parameters, and
cooling rate.
• The evaporator contains refrigerant boiling at low pressure and tem-
perature. As the refrigerant boils or evaporates it absorbs a lot of heat.
This heat is removed from whatever surrounds the evaporator, usually
air or secondary refrigerant.
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 7
• The temperature of the air inside the cooling facility is lower than the
load of fresh produce, so the heat is moving out of the fruit to the sur-
rounding air.
• During rapid heat transfer, a temperature gradient develops within the
product, with faster cooling causing larger gradients. This gradient is
a function of product properties, surface heat transfer parameters, and
cooling rate.
• The evaporator contains refrigerant boiling at low pressure and tem-
perature. As the refrigerant boils or evaporates it absorbs a lot of heat.
This heat is removed from whatever surrounds the evaporator, usually
air or secondary refrigerant.
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 9
devices, such as motors, lights, fans, and pumps. Product heat accounts for
the major portion of total heat load on a pre-cooling system. Product heat
load depends on product initial and desired final temperature, cooling rate,
weight of product cooled in a given time, and specific heat of the product.
Heat from respiration is part of the product heat load, but it is generally
small. No rule of thumb can be followed in that regard although that some
figures are available in the literatures (Thompson, 2006). It is has been a
usual practice to have a safety margin to overcome the peak load of the
theoretical calculation. Nowadays and with modern numerical techniques
a more practical cold store operation, the safety margin can be reduced to a
more realistic level (Nahora et al., 2005; Chourasia and Goswami, 2007).
making space warm produce on the wall. This decrease the handling steps
required and it eliminates the capital investment needed for fast cooling.
Also this system tends to be less heavy on power consumption.
Room cooling (Figure 1.2) is used for produce sensitive to free mois-
ture or surface moisture and for very small amounts of produce or produce
that does not deteriorate rapidly. Exposing certain type of fruit to spe-
cific durations of cold storage has been shown to enhance ripening due to
increased ethylene synthesis in the tissue (Mworia et al., 2012). For apple,
the room cooling method is very common where it kept refrigerated in
rectangular bins with lateral holes to let the cool air in and the temperature
is usually maintained below 1°C (Russell, 2006). Citrus fruit is also used
to be cooled using room cooling method (Defraeye et al., 2015).
In this method produce is loaded into a refrigerated space where cold
air is circulated within the room and around the produce by the refrigera-
tion fans. Cold air does not circulate readily through the packaged pro-
duce. Heat exchange is mainly by conduction through the container walls
to the cold outer surface. The method to be effected needs a uniform air
distribution, (at least 60 to 120 m.min air circulation), spaced stacking for
airflow between containers and well ventilated containers.
Coolers of this type generally have less ability to remove heat from the
product and lacks the air movement needed for rapid cooling compared with
other pre-cooling methods. The half-cooling time may be 12–36 h so three
half-cooling times (7/8 cooling time) will be 36–108 h (Ross, 1990). The
efficiency of a forced-air-cooling system compared to a cooling room for
grapefruits resulted in a reduction of 6.7°C in 1 h and 14.6°C after 2.5 h,
compared to 2°C and 3.5°C for 1 h and 2.5 h, respectively, for the cooling
room (Barbin et al., 2012). Due to its slow cooling rate, the produce takes
long time to reach the desired final temperature. Unless the room is designed
to deliver high level of relative humidity, the cooling systems will have suf-
ficient time to remove moisture from the air, and subsequently the dry air
will draw moisture out of the product, which will progressively dehydrate.
Produce is largely composed of water where the loss of this natural mois-
ture will reduce quality, taste, texture and shelf life. Most of these rooms
especially in developing countries are equipped with direct expansion com-
mercial refrigeration system (DX), which is not recommending for perish-
able storage. The installed evaporators usually have small surface area and
large ΔT (temperature difference between room air and coil) that increase
the water loss from the produce. Another disadvantage is that air velocity
decreases with increasing distance from the source, causing produce stacked
further from the fans to have less air passage over it.
Defrost is another problem for this kind of cold room. In a typical cool
store, fans circulate air over the refrigerator coils. To maintain a storage
temperature of 0°C the temperature of the coils will have to be appreciably
below 0°C. Moisture is therefore removed from the air and this accumu-
lates as ice on the coils. This why a defrost system is a basic requirement
since such cold rooms would sometimes run as low as −2°C for certain
products like grapes. Electrical defrost introduce extra heat load to the
system and cause great fluctuation in room temperature.
The nature of the DX cooler has the negative effect of remov-
ing moisture from the air as it passes over the evaporator, this can be
minimized by the careful design of the cooler surface, however some
moisture and hence weight loss is inevitable. Humidification systems
are recommended to reduce the losses by the introduction of water into
the air. Systems, such as ultrasonic nozzles have been applied, though
care must be taken to avoid excessive frosting on the evaporative coil
12 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
face and water being lost from the produce being cooled. Evaporative
humidification is a good alternative in which the water is transferred into
the air in vapor form avoiding introducing this moisture as free water.
Also care must also be taken to avoid freezing of the produce.
If the facilities are to be used for rapid pre-cooling, the capacity of the
refrigeration system must be increased. The amount of increase will be
determined by the rate of harvest, the desired cooling time and the required
temperature drop. For the big and medium room, it is expected to have
sufficient cooling capacity to pre-cool predetermined amount of produce
according to its conditions. For a small room, an essential step is the deter-
mining of the capacity of the installed refrigeration system. Knowledge of
the system control will be needed in addition to the produce initial temper-
ature, final temperature, thermal properties, and the space requirements to
place tunnel load. Based upon this data and the estimated cooling capacity
of the storage space, the optimum amount of produce to be pre-cooled can
be estimated. An auxiliary cooling fan is put in position after the pallets
are placed in the room. Pallets are stacked in even numbers in set positions
on the cool room floor. A tarp is rolled down over the bins to direct airflow
(Figure 1.3). The forced air fan is wheeled in position against the pallets.
The fan is turned on which draws air through the pallets. After forced air-
cooling is completed the fan can simply be shut off and the pallets remain
in position for room storage. Barbin et al. (2012) compared exhaustion and
blowing air using an experimental portable forced-air tunnel built inside
an existing cold store. The device was designed to improve cooling rates
inside storage room without the need for a cooling tunnel. A heterogeneity
factor was proposed for air circulation evaluation and compared with con-
vective heat transfer coefficient (h) values. Lower modules of heterogene-
ity factor values represent smaller temperature differences among samples
used. Comparing the two different airflow processes, heterogeneity factor
values were similar for regions where the cooling air could flow without
obstructions. However, larger differences were observed for regions with
hampered air circulation. Results indicated that the air distribution, as well
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 13
as the heat transfer, occurs more uniformly around the products in the
exhausting process than in the blowing system.
FIGURE 1.6 Concept of Forced air cooler compared by room cooling method.
precooling problem of “last pallets to cool,” which are typically those two-
pallet positions furthest from the suction fan or fans. The system offer
superior speeds cooling with a flow rates flow up to 2.35 L/s/kg com-
pared by 1 L/s/kg for the trapped tunnel precooler. Through such system,
Strawberry cooling time can be reduced from 1.5–2 h to about (Thompson
16 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
et al., 2010). So as the design precools faster, at the same time it physically
doubles precooling pallet positions where the capacity can actually tri-
ple. The new design of such technology offer several advantages, such as
faster cooling, increased capacity per unit area, potential for reduced cost
per unit cooled, more uniform product temperature, some can be operated
at field side and automated process control.
The disadvantages of high airflow method and technique are the high-
pressure drop across pallets where doubling airflow increases pressure
drop by a factor of about 4. This is also reflected in the high consumption
of fan electricity where doubling airflow increases electricity demand fans
by a factor of 7–8. Subsequently, an increased heat load because of the
fan heat. The use of high venting area reduces the pressure drop across
the pallet.
The continuous system where product is moved through a cooler on
a conveyer has largely been abandoned in favor of batch cooling due to
the high cost of conveyer systems. Some recent application for that type
of configuration is reported for specific application, such as tying it in a
production line for fresh-cut produce (Christie, 2007).
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 17
1.5 PACKAGING
One of the critical design parameter is the required capacity for a forced
air precooling facility. The capacity mainly depends upon factors, such as
the total production of the farm, nature of the produce and its thermophysical
specifications, expected duration of production season and modes of mate-
rial handling. An essential step in determining the capacity requirements of
the prospective refrigerated storage facility is to acquire data concerning
the traffic levels of the harvested produce. In addition, space requirements
for loading docks, product handling and logistics must be estimated. Based
upon this data and the estimated capital and operating costs per unit volume
of the storage space, optimum dimensions may be determined.
For forced-air-cooling, the refrigeration capacity requirements (Figure
1.9) are much greater than just storing products in a typical cold storage room
and might be as much as 5 or 6 times greater than the requirements for a stan-
dard cold room design (Elansari, 2009). Sufficient cooling capacity allows
room air temperature to be stable throughout the cooling process and avoids
temperature rising that slows cooling rates. Cooling time in forced-air-cool-
ers is controlled by volumetric airflow rate and product diameter (Flockens
and Meffert, 1972; Gan and Woods, 1989).
For the estimation of the refrigeration capacity needed, Wade (1984)
developed an equation for the estimation of the load required in terms of
the rate of heat loss from the cooling produce. The developed model uses
the seven eighth cooling times and the lag factor, which is an empirical
measure of the thermal properties of the product. Thompson and et al.
(1998) reported a calculation method for the estimation of the peak refrig-
eration tonnage associated with product cooling based on certain assump-
tions. Heat from miscellaneous source, such as fan motors was taken as a
percentage of the product load. Watkins (1990) developed a cooling load
calculation method and graphs were presented that show the relationship
between the air-flow rate and the cooling rate required for different com-
modities based of a pallet load. The method was specified for the sys-
tems, which use an auxiliary fan with the existing cold stores. Elansari
and Yahia (2012) charted the cooling capacity required for table grape,
mango, melon, strawberries and green been as a function of precooling
cycle designed and the initial temperature of the produce.
There are generally two designs of forced are precooler. They are: (i) wetted-
coil or spry deck style; and (ii) dry-coil high humidity style. The two sys-
tems have significant differences in design concepts and philosophy. Each
has advantages and disadvantages that should be considered to determine
which is the best for a specific commodity.
The practice of precooling and cold storage fruits, vegetables and flow-
ers in a high humidity atmosphere has been applied for many years in the
U.S. and it is has been used commercially for some 25–30 years (James,
2013). Several systems are available for achieving this, such as the ice
bank system and many other forms branded by various manufacturers. The
wet deck system (Figures 1.10 and 1.11) was developed by the Institute
of Agricultural Engineering in the 1970s (Farrimond et al., 1979; Geeson,
1989; Rule, 1995; Macleod-Smith et al., 1996; Tassou and Xiang, 1998).
It is the common precooling systems installed in many pack-house facili-
ties especially in developing countries where ice cold water is brought
into intimate contact with the recalculating air within a cooler (Elansari,
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 21
FIGURE 1.11 Wet cooling system (Ice banks) ready for operation.
2003; Ahmad and Siddiqui, 2015). Wet Deck systems have the ability to
maintain low temperatures and high relative humidities with lower run-
ning costs than conventional systems, making them suitable for long- and
medium-term storage of a number of vegetable crops (Farrimond et al.,
22 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
1979). Wet air-cooling has been used successfully for the pre-cooling and/
or storage of grapes, mushrooms cucumbers, carrots, cauliflowers, toma-
toes, strawberries, cut flowers white and red cabbage, Brussels, spinach
potted plants and flowers, lettuce chicory potatoes, celery chicory roots
cheese, leeks.
Warm produce is loaded in the precooling room in open crates stacked
to allow forced circulation of air through the crates. The cooling unit is usu-
ally located near the end of the room. Air is circulated by the wet air-cooler
to the opposite end of the room where it is drawn through the stacked pro-
duce pallets and returns to unit. A false wall or a plenum chamber (Tassou
and Xiang, 1998) at the end of the room creates a positive pressure in the
space to force cold air evenly through the produce and forms a return air
passage to the cooling unit. Each cold room may have one or more unit
operating in parallel based on the total capacity required. The circulation
rate is typically 40 air changes per hour (Benz, 1989).
Wet cooling system is an alternative to simple direct expansion cooling
where the refrigeration is supplied in the front of the water pumped from
the ice water tank, which works as thermal storage unit at the top of the fill
pack heat transfer surface (cooling tower), thus, cooling the air and warm-
ing the water. The formation of the ice on the surface of the evaporative
coil occurs when the refrigeration load is light and melts when the load
goes up. Air-cooler, which can cause damage to the produce, are stripped
from the air stream by directional mist eliminators. The water is prevented
from freezing completely through mechanical agitation, which also main-
tains good heat transfer rates between the refrigerated plates and the water
(Tassou and Xiang, 1998). The air exits the cooler at temperatures as low
as 1.5°C and relative humidities as high as 98%.
Wet cooling system is suitable for most crops other than those that
require low humidity storage, such as dry bulb onions and produce that
is required to be stored much lower than 1°C. When combined with a
forced ventilation system, the precooling cycle maybe shortened to only
2 h, however bulkier and packaged produces will last longer (10–17 h).
Due to the high relative humidity of the cooled forced air, the water losses
from such systems are minimal. As with the DX system, the cooler pro-
vides both cooling and holding possibilities. Freezing of the crop is not
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 23
possible, though care must be taken with crops that are sensitive to chill
damage.
Since wet spray and wet deck systems are recirculated water system,
the cooler must be designed to control disease organisms that enter the
system via the coming produce. The water acts as an effective air scrubber
and can be very efficient in removing air borne contaminations into the
water stream. Chlorine is commonly used, and requires concentrations of
100–150 ppm available chlorine for water near 0°C. However, chlorine is
corrosive to many common metals, thus care must be taken to determine if
chlorine can be used with the cooling equipment installed.
Conventional commercial refrigeration or industrial system using
either semi-hermetic compressors or screw working with ammonia or
halocarbon refrigerant are used to supply the required refrigeration capac-
ity to charge the ice chiller thermal storage unit. In order to reduce energy
and capital cost, the ice also can be built at night or when they’re no loads.
An evaporative or air-cooled condenser rejects the heat from the refrigera-
tion system.
Tator (1997) summaries the disadvantages of the wet deck precooling
system where it is usually designed with a smaller coil surface. The coil
must operate at a high temperature difference, usually 5–6°C delta t (Δt).
That system can only cools the fruits to usually 2.5–3°C or above. Cross
contamination can occur unless the recirculated water is chlorinated. Wet
air produces wet product surfaces that may detract from the appearance,
make handling difficult, or provide an enhanced environment for micro-
bial growth. Due to the wet air used, packaging must be water resistant,
hence waxed face packs or plastic trays are usually required.
Varszegi (2003) conducted an experiment to determine the relation-
ship between the bacterial growth on mushroom cap and the wet forced
air precooling methods (forced wet cooling and vacuum cooling) and
found that vacuum cooling provided the longest period of time needed to
reach the maximum value of microbial population and this method was
found beneficial for the quality. However and with a view to reduce the
weight loss during the conventional vacuum- cooling, ice bank cooling
of mushrooms is now in vogue where a stack of mushrooms is passed
through forced draft of chilled but humidified air from the ice bank (Rai
and Arumuganathan, 2008).
24 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Elansari et al. (2000) mentioned that the wet deck system is not the
optimum precooling technique for sea shipment produce since it is not
capable of reaching the lowest recommended temperature for certain prod-
uct like table grapes and strawberries. Also the ice bank coolers required a
larger space (James, 2013). However, the wet air-cooler offers some eco-
nomic advantage in addition to reduce weight loss:
• Smaller refrigeration plant since peak heat loads are met by the
reserve of ice. The plant therefore runs for longer periods at full
capacity.
• Running a refrigeration plant at full load (as ice bank systems oper-
ate) is more feasible than running at part load and therefore the over-
all efficiency of the plant is greater.
• Energy saving since smaller plant consumes less power.
• Portion of the refrigeration capacity is utilized to accumulate a
reserve of ice during the nighttime where electrical power is cheaper.
This system uses a direct expansion (as detailed on Figure 1.12) or second-
ary coolant coil sized to operate at a small temperature difference between
room air and coil (∆T), which will maintain a high relative humidity of
the leaving air stream. The dry-coil system can maintain 85–90% relative
humidity during the precooling process if properly designed and operated.
The DX system is not recommended for high humidity fruit precooling.
However, customers sometimes, due to economical reasons, buy accord-
ing to the lowest price, and then they have to compromise. For a bigger
size a flooded ammonia systems is an obvious choice for different reasons.
A flooded ammonia system achieves less temperature fluctuation, which
is especially critical for the precooling process. Another reason is mainly
for its lack of oil separation problems and better efficiency, providing the
plant with less cost for Kwh.
In case of DX system using commercial type style it must incorporated
in its refrigeration loop different components that maintain high level of
relative humidity to enhance its efficiency. Elansari (2009) indicated dif-
ferent details for the dry-coil concept that utilizes a semi-hermetic con-
densing unit working with R-134a (Figure 1.13). The refrigerant main loop
for each tunnel includes a liquid receiver; a thermostatic expansion valve;
FIGURE 1.13 Dry-coil concept that utilizes a semi-hermetic condensing unit working
with R-134a.
26 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
A mobile precooler is one, which removes the field heat at the farm and
during transit period. Commercial mobile precooling system had been pre-
viously designed, in which three-precooling unit container loads of product
could be precooled simultaneously (Green, 1997). The capital investment
and running cost of the system are very high due to its capacity, which
exceeds the production of the average size facilities. It consumes about
eight, of fuel per hour to run the ammonia screw compressors.
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 27
FIGURE 1.15 The machine room of the Portable precooling wit maneurop hermetic
compressor.
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 29
FIGURE 1.16 External view of the Portable precooling wit the electrical generator
beside.
1.9 HYDROCOOLING
water immersion (peach, cherry, avocado, mango, sweet corn, and carrot),
it is also may be applied to vacuum packs of prepared foodstuffs.
For the cherry industry as an example, the high efficiency of hydro-
cooling system is achievable due to the large heat capacity and high rate
of heat transfer of agitated water. At typical flow rates and temperature
differences, water removes heat about 15 times faster than air, resulting
in threefold shorter cooling time in comparison with products cooled by
forced air, or 10-fold, when products are placed in conventional or storage
room (Manganaris et al., 2007).
Based on the hydrocooler type, hydrocooling process is achieved by
immersing or flooding products in chilled water or spraying chilled water
over the products. Water is an excellent heat transfer refrigerant com-
pared to air where the convection resistance at the product surface is usu-
ally negligible. During the hydrocooling process, the main resistance to
heat transfer is the internal resistance of the product, and internal heat is
removed once it arrives at the surface. The temperature difference between
the product surface and the cooling water is normally less than 0.5°C.
Under idealized conditions, the convection heat transfer coefficient and
the cooling rate per unit surface area can be 680 W/m2·°C and 300 W/m2,
respectively (Cengel and Ghajar, 2013).
For efficient hydrocooling, water must be kept as cold as possible with-
out endangering produce. In commercial practices, water temperature is
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 31
usually kept around 0.5°C except for chilling sensitive commodities. The
water in a hydrocooling system is cooled by passing it through cooling
coils in which a refrigerant flows at about −2°C. Hydrocooler usually uses
a plate-type heat exchanger to cool the recirculated water to 0.5°C, either
placed directly over the belt conveyor or on the process floor near the
hydrocooler belt. The plates are refrigerated using R-717 or R-22. Usually,
the refrigerant is supplied from the central equipment room. The water
is normally recirculated within a closed system to save both water and
energy. However, recirculation can cause cross contamination for fruits
and vegetables and this why chemicals, such as active chlorine (or ozone)
are commonly added (usually at a rate of 50–100 mg/kg water) to reduce
bacteria build-up in water (Suslow, 1997) to disinfect the water used in
the process and therefore minimize the potential risk of spreading any
contamination.
The variation of the mass-average product temperature with time is
shown (Figure 1.18) for some fruits (ASHRAE, 1993). The typical seven-
eighths cooling times are 10 min for small-diameter products like cherries
and up to 1 h for large products, such as melons. It is clear that reducing the
FIGURE 1.18 Cooling rates for different produce with varying diameter.
32 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
temperature difference between the fruit and the water to 10% of the initial
value takes about 0.4 h for peaches while it take 0.7 h for citrus fruits. The
size of the fruit is an important factor influencing the hydrocooling rate in
addition to other factors, such as water temperature, produce orientation
and water flow pattern. Hydrocoolers can be portable, extending the cool-
ing season. Containers used in hydrocooling must be water-tolerant.
Container design and the stacking arrangement of the produce are
critical to achieve efficient hydrocooling. Water distribution within the
containers and the amount of water flowing out of the container through
the side-walls influences the effectiveness of hydrocooling process. The
containers should be designed to provide an efficient and uniform cool-
ing throughout the entire volume of container and throughout an entire
stack of containers. In terms of uniform water distribution, the width of
the openings on the bottom of containers is also important (Pathare et al.,
2012). Vigneault et al. (2004) investigated the non-uniform water supply
inside plastic collapsible containers used for three types of produce during
the hydrocooling process. The study recommended to use a container base
opening that covers approximately 5.2% of the bottom surface which will
allows a more uniform water distribution and insures the fastest cooling
rate by obtaining higher minimum flow rate in each section of the container.
Forced-air-cooling is traditionally, the most common method applied
for the fats cooling of strawberries in pack-house facilities where the typi-
cal cooling times for the pulp temperature to reach 3°C ranges from 60 to
90 min. However, the final strawberry pulp temperature can vary widely
according to the location within the cooling tunnel, resulting in uneven
cooling and a delay in achieving the desired final temperature. In addition,
water loss has been associated with forced-air-cooling process, contribut-
ing to reduced shelf life and the quality of the strawberries. Recently, the
application of hydrocooling was extended to strawberries leading to overall
better quality than forced-air-cooled, with significant differences in epi-
dermal color, weight loss, incidence and severity of decay (Ferreira et al.,
2006; Jacomino et al., 2011). Hydrocooling did not affect the fruit quality
during cold storage in terms of physical and chemical analyzes, freshness
or decay. Use of this method resulted in fruit that were 2–3% heavier than
those that were forced-air-cooled by the end of the storage time. For straw-
berries, hydrocooling is an alternate method that has several advantages
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 33
point and since the saturation pressure of water at 0°C is 0.61 kPa, the
products can be cooled to 0°C by lowering the pressure to that level. The
cooling rate can be increased by lowering the pressure below 0.61 kPa,
but this is not desirable because of the danger of freezing and the added
cost (Cengle and Boles, 2014). With the constant reduction in the pressure
of the vacuum cooling system, the progressing evaporation of the product
takes place. Practically and when a product is subjected to vacuum gradu-
ally, the flash point of the water decreases and some of the water boils until
new equilibrium conditions is obtained (Alibas and Koksal, 2014; Reno et
al., 2011; Rodrigues et al., 2012).
Looking at Figure 1.20 in a vacuum cooler, one can distinguish two
stages. Primary, the produce with at initial temperature of 25°C for an
example, are brought into the vacuum tube and the operation starts. The
temperature in the tube remains unchanged until the saturation pressure is
reached, which is 3.17 kPa at 25°C. In the second stage that follows, satu-
ration conditions are maintained inside at progressively lower pressures
and the corresponding lower temperatures until the desired final tempera-
ture is achieved which is usually slightly above 0°C.
Compared by other conventional precooling techniques, vacuum cool-
ing is considered the most expensive choice. One of the reasons for that is
its limited application, which is: much faster cooling. It is applied to any
fresh produce, which has free water provided that its structure will not be
affected by the removal of such water. The rate of cooling and effective-
ness of vacuum cooling are mainly related to the ratio between its evapora-
tion surface area and the mass of foods. Vegetables with large surface area
per unit mass and a high tendency to liberate moisture, such as lettuce and
spinach are good example for vacuum cooled products. In the contrary,
produce with low ration of surface area to mass are not suited to vacuum
cooling, especially those that have relatively water-resistant peels, such as
tomatoes and cucumbers. Some products, such as mushrooms and green
peas can be vacuum cooled successfully by wetting them first.
Precooling of mushrooms is a major traditional application of vacuum
cooling. The porous structure and high moisture content of mushrooms
have made this possible (Zheng and Sun, 2005). For mushrooms (He et al.,
2013) reported a cooling time of 25 min from 25.1°C initial temperature
to 2.4°C final temperature where the weight loss was 5.3%. The effects of
vacuum cooling on the color, firmness, polyphenol oxidase and membrane
permeability of mushroom after cooling and storage were determined. The
results showed that vacuum cooling significantly reduced the polyphenol
oxidase and membrane permeability. It has been seen shown that fresh
produce can be cooled much more rapidly and efficiently with vacuum
cooling than with conventional cooling (Ozturk et al., 2011).
Cauliflower heads, whose initial temperature was 23.5 ± 0.5°C, were
cooled until the temperature reached at 1°C using different precooling
methods (Alibas and Koksal, 2014). It was found that the most suitable
cooling method to precool cauliflower in terms of cooling time and energy
consumption was vacuum, followed by the high and low flow hydro and
forced-air precooling methods, respectively. The highest weight loss was
observed in the vacuum precooling method, followed by the forced-air
method. However, there was an increase in the weight of the cauliflower
heads in the high and low flow hydro precooling method. The best color
and hardness values were found in the vacuum precooling method. Among
all methods tested, the most suitable method to precool cauliflower in terms
of cooling and quality parameters was the vacuum precooling method.
Rahi et al. (2013) vacuum cooled cabbage where the results indicated
that pressure 0.7 kPa reduce the cooling time by 17% and 39% compared
38 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
with 1 and 1.5 kPa, respectively. The optimum selected pressure was 0.7
kPa that will minimize weight loss. It has been also found that temperature
distribution within the products during vacuum cooling despite the cabbage
complex structure was homogeneous. Water loss during vacuum cooling is
unavoidable due to the essence of vacuum process. Percent product yield,
water loss and cooling time where significantly improved by regulation of
pressure.
Liu et al. (2014) studied the effect of vacuum precooling process on leaf
lettuce, which is a complex process of heat and mass transfers. Based on
the properties of leaf lettuce in vacuum precooling process, an unsteady
computation model was constructed to analyze the factors affecting vacuum
precooling. Some factors, such as the precooling temperature, pressure and
quantity of the spray-applied water were verified throughout the experiment.
The study showed that the measured and simulated values were basically the
same, and the overall trend was similar. The lower the vacuum pressure, the
greater the cooling rate lettuce and water loss rate.
Garrido et al. (2015) compared four precooling systems including room
cooling, forced-air-cooling, hydrocooling and vacuum cooling for their
effects on quality and shelf-life of baby spinach. Leaf water content increased
after cooling in hydrocooling and vacuum cooling but more significantly in
winter while in spring, differences among treatments were not significant.
The color measured as Chroma was more vivid in hydrocooling and vacuum
cooling just after processing but after storage, no differences among pre-
cooling treatments were observed. In winter, there were no significant dif-
ferences in the respiration rate among precooling systems applied. However,
in spring, hydrocooling and vacuum cooling decreased respiration rate and
modified less the headspace gas composition of the packages. Surprisingly,
visual quality was significantly lower in vacuum cooling compared with the
rest of precooling treatments due to the higher degree and number of dam-
aged leaves. In conclusion, selection of the precooling method is critical
during warm weather due to the higher field temperature at harvest.
In recent years, vacuum-cooling technology has attracted much atten-
tion and its application has been extended to precooling of cut flowers. In
2013, FlowerForce, Netherlands, started to use the new loading cooler. They
choose the vacuum cooler as the best solution due to the quickest way to
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 39
cool their products. Using vacuum cooling significantly increases the shelf
life of the flowers and reduces the health risk caused by organism growth.
Most of the existing precooling facilities and equipment has been
designed to use halogenated hydrocarbons (CFCs and HCFCs) whose emis-
sions to the environment are depleting the ozone layer and contributing
significantly to global warming since the refrigerant leakage rates of the
vapor-compression systems to the environment is about 15% of the total
charge per annum (Elansari and Bekhit, 2015). Producing and handling of
CFCs is banned in most of the world and many HCFC refrigerants are only
short-term alternative and becoming more expensive and less efficient. With
the phase-out of R22, which together with ammonia was a popular refrig-
erant in food processing. Vacuum cooling machines have a large potential
market, in food cooling and processing industry. As its refrigerant is water,
which is more environment-friendly, it can be widely used and has no limit.
The removal of water vapor from a product during vacuum cooling results
in the loss of heat, approximately equivalent to the latent heat of vaporization
of water. An advantage of vacuum cooling is that it is possible to stop the
cooling process at a predetermined pressure and temperature. Water loss can
be minimized by spraying the produce with water before cooling. Some cool-
ers are equipped with water spray systems that are activated during the cool-
ing cycle, such systems is called hydro-vacuum methods. Like hydrocooling
water, this water must be disinfected if it is recirculated.
Qvacuum = mP Cp ΔT (kJ)
40 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
where, mp is the product mass, Cp is the specific heat of the product (kJ/kg·°C)
and ΔT is the temperature difference between the product initial temperate
and the final desired temperature (°C). Therefore, during vacuum cooling,
the amount of water vapor generated (also cooling loss) can be calculated by:
wv = mP Cp ΔT/hfg (kg)
In the past, most of ice forms involve a certain level of manual handling for
transportation from one place to another. It also has sharp edges and quite
coarse that may injury the fresh product’s surface in case of using it as a
direct contact chiller. Such ice performance to lower the heat load of the
product is poor due to the limited heat transfer performance when releasing
their latent heat of fusion. The ice slurry overcomes most of these disadvan-
tages since it has a high-energy storage density because of the latent heat of
fusion of its crystals. Due to its large heat transfer surface area created by its
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 43
Slurry ice can be used directly for rapid chilling or precooling for veg-
etables that can tolerate water such as asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli,
green onions, cantaloupes, leafy greens, carrots and sweet corn, spinach,
parsley, and Brussels sprouts (El-Ramady et al., 2015; Kitinoja, 2013). For
broccoli as an example, rapid chilling by ice slurry to the field-packed,
waxed broccoli cartons, immediately after harvesting prevents wilting,
suppresses enzymatic degradation and respiratory activity; slows or inhib-
its the growth of decay-producing micro- organisms, and reduces ethylene
production. The use if slurry ice with broccoli ensures that broccoli heads
are retained in a fresh and attractive condition throughout the cold chain,
right to the consumer.
Package ice can be used only with water tolerant packages such
as waxed fiberboard, plastic or wood (Kitinoja and Thompson, 2010).
The ice remaining after cooling protects the produce from warming
and dehydration during transport (Vigneault et al., 2009). There are
several ways to inject slurry ice in the carton packed with a variety
of produce. The easiest icing method is to add a measured amount of
ice manually to the top of each carton although the method usually
resulted in uneven cooling of produce. The method is low efficiency,
since it takes 5 min for two dedicated workers to ice a pallet of 30 cases
(Boyette and Estes, 2000), this is only marginally justified for small-
scale operations.
Kauffeld et al. (2010) described the use of an automatic pallet icing
chamber design that can greatly improve the icing efficiency. The design
incorporates a stainless steel enclosure capable of handling a pallet of 48
cases (9 kg broccoli per case) during each icing cycle where only a single
operator is required to move the produce pallet into the chamber. Once a
locally positioned, icing machine is switched on and the two front doors
are closed automatically. A pump begins to circulate the ice slurry in the
mixing tank located right underneath the chamber to the top of the enclo-
sure, where it is distributed to four vertical slots built on the side walls.
Then, ice slurry is forced to flow through the hand openings and fill the
voids throughout the produce within the cases in a about 90 seconds. As
water drains off, ice particles are tightly packed with the produce. The
pallet is then moved out of the chamber. Therefore, slurry ice can be ben-
eficiary in both small and large operations despite the fact that the pro-
duce is wet during the process, liquid icing is an excellent cooling method
(Kanlayanarat et al., 2009).
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 45
The liquid ice slurries range in water to ice ratio from 1:1 to 1:4. The
liquid nature of the slurry allows the ice to move throughout the box, fill-
ing all of the void volume of the container, reaching all the crevices and
holes around the individual units of the product. The slurry maintains a
constant low temperature level during the cooling process, and provides
a higher heat transfer coefficient than water or other single-phase liquids.
These features of ice slurry make it valuable in many applications among
them is fresh produce handling. For example, the ice slurry based thermal
storage system within the fresh produce packhorse and cold stores in the
form of dense ice slurry during nighttime hours when power is cheap.
Latter on and during the daytime working hours the cold energy can then
be quickly released by melting the ice slurry for produce chilling when
electricity might be several times more expensive.
In a recent study, Rawung et al. (2014) used a simple tropical cooler
with fresh cabbage in order to analyze cooler air circulation, cooling rate,
storage duration, and cabbage loss using ice. Results showed a highest
cooling rate of ice at room temperature of 0.64°C/h and weight loss of
cabbage was reduced to only an average of 0.83%.
For Broccoli, four cooling methods were tested, room cooling, forced
air-cooling, hydrocooling and package icing (Kochhar and Kumar, 2015).
The temperatures of all four cooling mediums were in the range of 0–1°C.
Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that package icing and
hydrocooling were better methods of cooling compared to forced air-cool-
ing and hydrocooling.
A Canadian manufacturer (SUNWELL, 2015) has recently developed
an ice slurry system for the preservation of fresh products, which are tra-
ditionally stored and preserved in ice such as broccoli, green onions, corn,
herbs and other delicate produce. In this system, the slurry ice formed
inside an ice generator are pumped into an insulated storage-dispenser
insulate tank, where they remain suspended in water. Dry ice crystals from
the top of the tank are then mixed with a small amount of water and the
mixture is pumped with a positive displacement pump via a pipe system to
the display cases where it is spread over the display surface with a flexible
hose. Boxes containing produce are stacked on a pallet. Ice slurry is then
injected into the boxes. The entire pallet is rapidly chilled in 36 sec. The
excess water is drained away, leaving the cartons and uniformly packed in
46 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
slurry ice and ready for storage and distribution. Unlike other icing sys-
tems, this system reduces the shipping weight by selecting the amount of
slurry ice packed in to each box. The amount of water with the ice slurry
can varies according the temperature wanted to be attained and it could
be ranged from 65 to 80% where the diameter of ice crystals is as low as
50–500 μ micron.
Slurry ice may also be mixed with other additives, such as ozone to
inhibit microbial growth and to increase shelf life and maintain sensory
quality, as demonstrated (Keys, 2015; Lu et al., 2012), but there are few
studies comparing ozonized flake ice to ozonized slurry ice.
Elansari and Yahia (2012) presented a design for the fresh produce cold
store using slurry ice as secondary refrigerant in which the relative humid-
ity can be maintained at higher level leading to a minimum weight loss
during cold storage (Figure 1.22). The system is a thermal storage one and
can provide two temperature range, the first is for banana ripping rooms
along with other cold storage products, 10°C and above, while the other is
FIGURE 1.22 Conceptual design of slurry ice system for fresh produce.
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 47
for potato cold store, 4°C. The system consists of a main circuit in which
in an ice generator is producing slurry ice via a heat exchanger using
ammonia as the primary refrigerant. The harvested slurry ice is accumu-
lated and stored in an insulated tank with an optimum capacity. The tank
is manufactured from a plastic material or a stainless steel and to be posi-
tioned in a shaded area. The slurry ice within the tank is always agitated to
keep its homogeneity. The heat generated within the agitator is to be con-
sidered during the design stage as a heat source. The first pump is located
in lower level with respect to the tank; it pulls the melted water due to the
heat added by the agitator and return it continuously to the generator. This
keep the slurry ice quality as per required. Over the last fifteen years there
have been a large number of installations completed in over 40 countries
for direct contact cooling of various food products (Kauffeld, et al., 2010;
Matsumoto et al., 2010).
Slurry ice is also used in refrigerated trucks transporting fresh produce. It
was found that ice slurry refrigeration system operates at a higher efficiency
than the standard on-board truck cooling system where it is in operation in
Japan (Kato and Kando, 2008). Ice slurry is produced at a central plant and
is charged into special heat exchangers in the insulated boxes fitted into the
truck. Carbon dioxide emissions associated with the refrigeration system
could therefore be reduced by 20–30% (Kato and Kando, 2008). In addition,
the engine in the ice slurry cooled trucks can be switched off completely
at the points of goods pick-up and delivery, therefore reducing noise and
exhaust emissions, a feature which is especially valuable in large cities with
air quality problems (Kauffeld, et al., 2010).
Slurry ice is undoubtedly a promising technology the postharvest refriger-
ation of the horticultural crop that should be encouraged because of its numer-
ous advantages, in particularly energy savings and for being environmentally
friendly. Further research and improving work need to conducted particularly
on its effect and performance in keeping produce quality and extending its
shelf life for different products and under various circumstances.
Another aspects of the control of different cold chain element is its strat-
egies which should be generally intend to reduce the fluctuation of the
controlled environment temperature and often minimize energy consump-
tion associated with the system operation. A failure in cold chain causes
lower durable produce and uneconomical use of energy for cooling and
storage. According to Meneghetti et al. (2013), when cold chain is inter-
rupted, it can create gaps for deterioration due to water condensation on
the product, providing an excellent environment for fungi growth and
other microorganisms.
Therefore, during the short- or long-term cold storage period, it is essen-
tial to maintain the steady temperature in a narrow range and no major vari-
ation or fluctuations, in spite of the existence of disturbances resulted from
different heat sources. Such heat sources included heat generation due: the
biological activity, the operation of electric motors of the evaporator; pres-
ence of operators, the heat loss through walls, floor and roof and heat losses
due to frequent opening of the chamber, in addition other factors.
In the forced air precooling process, the effect of airflow blockage and
guide technology applied on energy consumption is vey much related the
type of control strategy implemented. The velocities and temperatures of
the air in the cold zone for different designs of airflow blockage and guide
boards should be very carefully planned and evaluated since the airflow
pattern plays a key role on energy efficiency, precooling time, and produc-
tivity (Akdemir, 2012).
50 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
In potato cold store, the inadequate and poorly manage airflow distribution
through stacks of bagged potatoes could also result in non uniform humid-
ity which might lead to condensation of moisture where relative humidity
reaches saturation or excessive dehydration where the relative humidity
remains below 80%. The prevailing conditions in potato cold stores lead to
storage losses up to 10%, against the prescribed maximum limit of 5% during
the storage period of 8 months (Chourasia and Goswami, 2009). Therefore,
one of the main aims in designing a storage system is to ensure a uniform
targeted airflow, which leads to better temperature and humidity control.
Most stores are designed to provide an airflow of 0.3 m3/min. per ton of
product, based on the maximum amount of fresh produce that can be stored
in the chamber (Akdemir and Arin, 2006; Cold Chain Development Center,
2010). This is needed to cool product to storage temperature and also may
be needed if the produce has a high respiration rate. This high airflow rate
can cause excessive water loss from products, and fans are a considerable
source of heat, so the system should be designed to reduce airflow to 0.06
m3/min to 0.12 m3/min. of airflow per ton. Motor speed control systems,
such as variable rate –frequency control controllers (Figure 1.23) for alter-
nating current motors, are used to control fan speed at the lowest possible
FIGURE 1.23 New set of FVD being installed for a precooling station.
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 51
speed that will prevent unacceptably warm product in the storage as well as
minimizing weight loss.
In the forced air precooling process, the airflow rate supplied by the
auxiliary fan in the precooling tunnel is controlled via a variable frequency
drive (VFD). Also and for cold store, the flow air supplied by fan evapora-
tors can be controlled by VFD (Elansari, 2009). VFDs are an electronic
motor controller that is used to reduce fan speed after the heat field has
been pulled down to storage temperatures. For the forced air precooling
and as the process nears its end, water loss from product should be avoided
by minimizing air-flow which can be reduced as low as 50%. The VFDs
offer very attractive energy savings. At half fan speed, the fans will con-
sume only about 15% of full speed power (Morton and McDevitt, 2000).
In a CA facility, fans are typically operated at full speed for several weeks
following room seal. At that point, fan speed can be immediately reduced
to 50%, or can be staged down over several weeks, again with a minimum
of 50% speed (Becker et al., 2013). Therefore, benefits of evaporator fan
VFD control include smooth temperature control and subsequently con-
trolling relative humidity and weight loss.
In 2007, PG&E conducted a demonstration of variable frequency
drives for a vacuum cooler (PG&E, 2008). They demonstrated a 29% elec-
tricity savings and a 29% reduction in demand compared with a conven-
tional vacuum cooler. Research conducted in the Pacific Northwest for the
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (2008) reported an improved prod-
uct quality and reduced mass loss in fruit stored in controlled atmosphere
rooms with VFD controls on evaporator fans. VSDs applied also to evapo-
rator fans in cold stores provided good temperature control. The report
indicated that it is very feasible to use VFD to control motor speed in
evaporators with fan motors greater than 1 hp. Thus for all motor sizes, the
motor speed should be controlled based on targeted temperature, required
with a provision for a minimum speed setting that can be defined by the
operators of the refrigerated warehouse.
The other alternative to VFDs is fan cycling by the on-off method.
Excessive fan cycling can cause an increase in shrinkage of fresh produce
due to depressed humidity levels in the room; poor or irregular tempera-
tures in the fruit and poor air circulation in parts of the room in addi-
tion to a permanent unwanted oscillations in the chamber temperature
52 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
rotation in such a way that the remaining shelf life of each item is best
matched to the remaining transport duration options, to reduce product
waste during transportation and provide product consistency at the store
(Jedermann et al., 2014).
In refrigerated trucks or marine containers, temperatures rise very
rapidly if a reefer unit fails. A recent study shows temperature-controlled
shipment rise above the specified temperature in 30% of trips from the
supplier to the distribution center, and in 15% of trips from the distribution
center to the store. Lower-than required temperatures occur in 19% of trips
from supplier to distribution center and in 36% of trips from the distribu-
tion center to the store (Garcia and Lunadei, 2011).
Thus, studying and analyzing both temperature gradient data and rela-
tive humidity inside precoolers, refrigeration rooms or warehouses, con-
tainers and trucks is a primary concern for the fresh produce industry.
Any temperature disturbance can undermine the efforts of the whole chain
(Mahajan et al., 2014). Maintaining appropriate conditions over the whole
chain is a very challenging task where negligence or mishandling in the
logistics of perishable food products is very familiar. A lot of reports in
the literature give many cases where the inadequate management during
temperature control usually leads to losses in the food chain (postharvest,
distribution and at home). However, in reality less than 10% of such per-
ishable foodstuffs are in fact currently refrigerated (Coulomb, 2008). Also
it should be mentioned that, the production of food involves a significant
carbon investment that is squandered if the food is then not utilized. In the
planning phase for an element of the cold chain, the costs of a new refrig-
eration system can sometimes quickly be recovered in energy savings over
an old system, which is achieved by precise and better control (Energy
Efficiency Best Practice Guide Industrial Refrigeration, 2009).
The operation of the cold chain element of perishable produce requires
both automatic and manual control of the equipment in order to properly
pull down field heat in a precooler, optimum storage and relative humidity
within a cold store as an example. The most successful cold chain elements
are those whose owner and operators understand the need to continuously
measure system performance and energy consumption. Such project can-
not meet the ultimate goals of produce quality and optimum energy con-
sumption and the most feasible running or operating cost without proper
Recent Advances in Postharvest Cooling of Horticultural Produce 55
control. Thus and based on the above, studying and analyzing temperature
gradient data inside precoolers, refrigeration rooms, containers and trucks
is a primary concern for the industry where they are the main input for any
system control.
Garcia et al. (2009) illustrated the great potential of a specific type
of motes, providing information concerning several parameters such as
temperature, relative humidity, door openings and truck stops. They also
developed a Psychometric charts for improving the knowledge about
water loss and condensation on the product during shipments.
Aung et al. (2012) discussed the application of radio frequency iden-
tification (RFID) systems in logistics applications to track and trace the
location of produce throughout different points in the supply chain. RFID
tags attached to produce are capable of providing real-time tracking infor-
mation across the supply chain. Applying such technology can lead to
a better decision with the fresh produce supply chain and could then be
made based on information (temperature and relative humidity) and not
only the location of an asset, but also its condition (Roussos et al., 2008).
Vandana et al. (2014) designed a low cost data logger prototype suit-
able for Cold Chain Logistics. The proposed data logger is capable of
measuring levels of temperature (T), humidity (H), and carbon monoxide
(CO). It is capable of alerting the user regarding the parameter changes
using SMS, so that early precaution steps can be taken. The system also
incorporates GPS module, which enables the live tracking capability of
the cargo at any point of time.
Chandra and Lee (2014) presented a system comprising of Arduino
wireless sensor network and Xively sensor which can be an ideal system
to monitor temperature and humidity of cold chain logistics. The applica-
tion is making use of the internet of things (IoT), which is a new evolu-
tion in technological advancement taking place in the world today. The
combination of wireless sensor networks and cloud computing is becom-
ing a popular strategy for the IoT era. The cold chain requires controlled
environment for sensitive products in order for them to be fit for use. The
monitoring process is the only assurance which tells if a certain process
has been carried out successfully. Taking advantage of IoT and its benefits
to monitor cold chain logistics will result in better management and prod-
uct handling.
56 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
minimum level through process integration and combined heat and power
systems, where feasible. Lastly, at the level of the organization, energy man-
agement strategies can be adapted to ensure a strong corporate framework
exists for energy monitoring, target setting (temperature and pull down time),
employee involvement, and continuous improvement and training.
Supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) can be very
helpful in energy monitoring and metering of cold store for fresh produce
project. SCADA is fast data-acquisition software for monitoring and con-
trol power availability of electrical distribution networks. The software gives
operators exceptional knowledge and control of their network through an
intuitive, interactive and customizable interface. With fast, consistent access
to actionable information, SCADA system is more effective at protecting and
optimizing their electrical distribution network, thereby improving both its
efficiency and productivity.
All critical cold store rooms temperatures and relative humidity, plant
temperatures and pressures, will be observable through the SCADA sys-
tem. It will record and file all relevant data allowing subsequent viewing and
reporting of all previous working conditions and plant operational param-
eters. Historical data should be backed up to provide a permanent record of
product storage history as well as energy consumption and its circumstances.
The SCADA computer and operating system software should be upgraded at
least every five years to ensure the system remains currency with IT industry
personnel skills (IPENZ, 2009). In the past, large food storage operations
may have been staffed 24 h a day seven days a week, but in recent years, the
advent of PLC and SCADA systems with monitoring and alarming features
have provided a more economical alternative. For example, the SCADA sys-
tem can send error messages on the status of the refrigeration system to the
plant operator’s pager.
Yu et al. (2013) used a programmable logic controllers (PLC) to control
a SCADA system that was designed to keep fruits and vegetables fresh with
ozone. To address the problem of system accuracy and real-time monitor-
ing, Rockwell configuration software (CITECT) was used, the Cicode func-
tion, SWOPC-FXGP/WIN-C principles of programming and the information
transfer between the PC and the control system to provide real-time moni-
toring of the ozone concentration and the temperature of the cold storage.
It was reported that the accuracy of the system was improved. Experiments
that have been conducted showed that the system was successfully used to
58 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
1.19 MAINTENANCE
Maintenance can have many objectives. Long time ago maintenance was
seen as repairing those items that have broke down for whatever reason,
so called corrective maintenance. A step was set when preventive main-
tenance became more common, preventing breaking down of items or
replacing the subject item before it broke down. Nowadays, the objec-
tive of maintenance is not only to have the refrigerating plant available
at all time, but also to maintain its capacity, efficiency and the quality of
the stored. Another, not less important objective is safety with regard to
people, stored foodstuffs and environment.
As any piece of mechanical equipment, also a refrigerating plant needs
maintenance in order to keep it operational with the original capacity and
efficiency for a long period of time. Maintenance should not be restricted
to equipment with moving parts only. Inspection and maintenance must
comprise the complete installation from compressors, coolers, condens-
ers and pumps to controls, piping and insulation and even the primary
and secondary refrigerant. A maintenance comprehensive plan should be
developed for all equipment, including the building itself.
As a minimum, the maintenance program should include periodic
inspection and maintenance of the following items:
60 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
1.20 CONCLUSION
Different precooling methods are presented along with its recent applica-
tions. To maximize the benefits of each system, careful design and selection
is required in order to minimize capital investment as well as the running
cost. Saving energy approaches should be considered and implemented dur-
ing different stages. Investment on the management and controlling appara-
tus will be reflected on the performance as well as the quality of the produce.
KEYWORDS
•• cold chain
•• forced air
•• hydrocooling
•• precooling
•• slurry ice
•• vacuum
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CHAPTER 2
CONTENTS
2.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 70
2.1.1 Nutritional Importance of Root and Tuber Crops............... 71
2.1.2 Production Statistics of Root and Tuber Crops................... 71
2.1.3 Physiology of Root and Tuber Crops.................................. 72
2.1.4 Dormancy and Spouting in Root and Tuber Crops............. 73
2.1.5 Curing in Root and Tuber Crops......................................... 74
2.1.6 Description of Major Root and Tuber Crops....................... 75
2.1.6.1 Cassava................................................................. 75
2.1.6.2 Yams..................................................................... 76
2.1.6.3 Sweet Potato......................................................... 77
2.1.6.4 Potato.................................................................... 78
2.1.6.5 Cocoyam.............................................................. 78
2.1.7 Postharvest Losses in Root and Tuber Crops...................... 79
2.1.8 Major Reasons for Postharvest
Loss in Root and Tuber Crops............................................. 79
2.1.9 Harvesting, Handling, Transportation and
Marketing of Root and Tuber Crops................................... 81
70 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Root and Tubers belong to the class of foods that provide energy in the
human diet in form of carbohydrates. According to FAO (1990), root and
tubers refer to any grown plant that stores edible material in the roots,
corms, and tubers. They rank next to cereal crops in importance because
they provide a major part of the daily calorie needs of the people in the
tropics (Ihekoronye and Ngoddy, 1989).
The principles root and tuber crops of the tropics are cassava (Manihot
esculenta Crantz), Yam (Dioscorea Spp), sweet potato (Ipomea batatas L.),
Irish potato (Solanum tubaeroson) and edible aroids (Colocasia Spp and
Xanthosomonas sagattifolium). They are widely grown and consumed as
subsistence staples in many parts of Africa, Latin America, Pacific Islands
and Asia (Dandago, 2009).
Root and Tuber crops also serve as a source of fermentable sugar
required in the production of alcoholic beverages as well as source of
raw materials for various industrial fermentations in pharmaceuticals,
Postharvest Handling and Storage of Root and Tubers 71
Root and Tubers form a major staple food group for a large number of
persons in most developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Nutritionally they are principal sources of calorie to the diets and many
contribute a nominal quantity of protein. Cassava for example is the chief
source of energy in Southern Nigeria, and D. R Congo. Yam, which is
another popular staple tuber crop has less than 5% true protein while
cocoyam has <7% true protein but a fair source of calcium. Sweet potatoes
are poor source of protein but good source of β-vitamins, ascorbic acid and
rich source of provitamin A. Root and tubers contribute about 21–46%
of total calorie and about 6.6% protein to the diet of people sub-Saharan
Africa (Okaka, 2009).
According to Sanni et al. (2009), root and tuber crops provides a staple
carbohydrate source to an estimated population of over 500 million people
and also contribute to energy and nutritional requirement of more than 2
billion people (Table 2.1).
It is estimated that about 300 million tons of root and tuber crops are pro-
duced in 1993 by developing countries of the world. Cassava and pota-
toes put up about 83% of the total production. The most important root
and tubers in terms of production are cassava (48.8%) and sweet potato
(39.8%); while yam (9.4%) and cocoyam (2%) are less important. Most
cassava is produced in Africa, Asia, and South America while sweet pota-
toes production is heavily concentrated in Asia. Africa dominates the pro-
duction of yams and Taro (Sanni et al., 2009).
72 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Root and Tuber crops are still living even after they have been harvested
and as such they continue to respire by taking in oxygen (O2) and passing
out carbon dioxide (CO2). The respiration process results in the oxidation
of starch, which is contained in cells of the root/tuber into water, carbon
dioxide and release of some energy in form of heat. The amount of starch
(which is the dry matter in the tuber) is reduced during respiration. The
factors affecting the rate of respiration in root and tuber crops include the
following:
i. Physiological age of the root or tuber crop.
ii. Storage conditions of the root/tuber (mainly temperature).
Generally, when a root or tuber crop is harvested, the rate of respira-
tion is normally high and this is then followed by a decrease (especially
during storage) then followed by another increase once spouting begins.
Temperature is the single most important factor affecting the rate of
respiration in root and tuber crops. The rate of respiration is almost dou-
bled for every 10°C increase in temperature over the range of 25°C. This
is mathematically expressed as Qw = 2.
Postharvest Handling and Storage of Root and Tubers 73
During harvesting, bruising and cutting of root and tubers are likely to
occur. These fresh wounds are ideal entry point for disease causing organ-
isms (Dandago, 2009) if not properly healed. The term curing refers to the
operation of self-healing of wounds, cuts, abrasions and bruises in root
and tuber crops.
According to Kitinoja and Kader (2003) curing root and tuber crops
such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, cassava and yams is an important prac-
tice if these crops are to be stored for any length of time. Curing can be
accomplished by holding the produce at high temperature and high rela-
tive humidity for several days while harvesting wounds heals and new
protective layers of cells form. The best conditions for curing vary among
root and tuber crops as shown in Table 2.2.
Curing can be done in specially heated storage house, which must be
well ventilated to prevent accumulation of carbon dioxide. In the tropics,
curing of root and tuber crops can be accomplished by piling the crops on
the ground (under shade) and covering it with dark sheet of polyethylene
for few days depending on the type of crop. The two steps involved in cur-
ing process of root and tuber crops are:
TABLE 2.2 Best Conditions for Curing Root and Tuber Crops
Commodity Temperature Relative Humidity % Days
°C °F
Potato 15–20 59–68 90–95 5–10
Sweet potatoes 30–32 86–90 85–90 4–7
Yams 32–40 90–104 90–100 1–4
cassava 30–40 86–104 90–95 2–5
Source: Kitinoja and Kader (2003).
Postharvest Handling and Storage of Root and Tubers 75
2.1.6.1 Cassava
of Africa, America and Asia has been established as 37%, 12% and 7%,
respectively. Cassava is the chief source of energy in southern Nigeria and
DR Congo. It is consumed in many forms as Garri, Fufu, Lafun, etc.
Basically there are two important varieties of cassava based on the
hydrogen cyanide content of the cassava root. The hydrogen cyanide con-
tent of cassava is not normally stable but fluctuating and several factors
such as varietal and environmental differences are responsible for this.
In Nigeria bitter varieties of cassava are found in the southern part of
the country and can contain up to 250 mg/kg hydrogen cyanide. For the
cassava to be safe for human consumption the HCN has to be removed
through detoxification process.
While on the other hand, the sweet cassava variety is found gener-
ally in the Northern part of Nigeria and it contains around 50 mg/kg of
Hydrogen cyanide. Because of the low Cyanide content of sweet cassava,
it can be eaten fresh (to some limited extent) but it also undergoes some
detoxification process in the course of processing.
2.1.6.2 Yams
Yams (Dioscorea Spp) are widespread in the humid tropics throughout the
world. The genus Dioscorea contains about 600 species spread throughout
the world. The edible and economically important species of yams include
the following:
a. White yam (Dioscorea rotundata poir): This yam species is
believed to have originated from Africa and it is the most widely
grown and preferred yam specie. It is called white yam because of
the flesh color. A number of cultivars of white yam exist.
b. Yellow yam (D. cayenensis Lam): This variety of yam also derives
its name from the yellowish color of the flesh, which is believed to
be due to the presence of carotenoids. Yellow yam is also believed
to have originated from West Africa.
c. Water yam (D. alata L.): Unlike white yam the water yam is believed
to have originated from South East Asia. Water yam is widely
spread across the world and seeing only to white yam in Africa in
popularity.
Postharvest Handling and Storage of Root and Tubers 77
2.1.6.4 Potato
2.1.6.5 Cocoyam
Nigeria with an average annual production of 3.7 million metric tons is the
leading cocoyam producer in the world (NRCRI, 2012).
The corms and cormels are prepared into food by simply boiling and roast-
ing (Ofoeze, Ezeama and Awa, 2011). Young leaves of taro cocoyam are also
eaten in Nigeria as in other West African countries as vegetables and food for
ruminants particularly sheep and goats (Adetuyi and Ogundahunsi, 2009).
Nutritionally cocoyam is more readily digested (NRCRI, 2012). Cocoyam is
a good source of carbohydrate, energy and fair high source of crude and true
proteins, rich in Ash, low in fiber and a fair source of lipids.
Cocoyam is high in P, Mg and Zn than any other root and tuber crops. The
protein of taro cocoyam is well supplied with essential amino acids but some-
times low in only histidine and lysine (Adetuji and Ogundahunsi, 2009).
Root and Tuber crops incur high postharvest losses due to their perish-
able nature. They contain fairly high amount of moisture and the skins are
delicate especially at harvest; and therefore any cut or bruise can speed up
metabolic and physiological process and as such lead to postharvest loss.
The cuts or bruise are also ideal entry points for spoilage micro-organisms.
Many researchers are of the opinion that postharvest losses in root and
tuber crops can be high as 50% of the total output. Postharvest loss can
simply be defined as any loss in quality or quantity of crop that occur
between harvest and consumption.
Root and tuber crops incur high loss and the reasons for the loss can be
pre-or postharvest. Postharvest loss in root and tuber crops can occur due
to the following factors:
I. Mechanical damage:
The skin of a mature root and tuber crop is an effective barrier against
external factors such as disease causing organisms. When the root or
tuber crop is intact, it is normally protected but once the skin is broken/
80 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
abraded or bruises micro-organisms gain entry into the root or tuber crop
and deterioration sets in. An injury to the root or tuber crop also speeds
up physiological process such as respiration within the material and the
energy reserve of the tuber would be depleted and deterioration speed up.
Moisture loss can also occur at the point of injury and this also is detri-
mental to the postharvest life of the tuber crop.
Root and tuber crops sustain injury at verities points within the produc-
tion chain. The following illustrates the points:
• Injury can be sustained at the point of harvesting of root or tuber
from harvesting instruments and/or rough handling.
• During transportation of the crop it can sustain injury on the skin
due to rough vibrations from the vehicle and also due to rough roads.
• Loading and unloading of root and tuber crops can is also an impor-
tant point where the crop can sustain injury or even broke.
• Crops can also sustain injury during storage. The injury can be as a
result of attack by rodents or insects.
II. Physiological factors:
Physiological factors such as respiration and transportation are important
factors in the postharvest life of root and tuber crops. Careless handling
and poor management can speed up the physiological processes within
the root and tuber and therefore lead to postharvest loss in the crop.
Root and tubers are living organs and therefore they respire by taking
in oxygen and passing out water, carbon dioxide and heat energy. The rate
of respiration in root and tuber crops is usually high at harvest time, which
is followed by decrease during storage and another increase when spout-
ing begins. Normally root and tuber at harvest through storage follows this
natural pattern in respiration but once this pattern is disrupted, the rate of
respiration include:
• mechanical injury to the root/tuber;
• over heating of storage environment;
• poor ventilation, etc.
Transpiration is another physiological factor that can affect the posthar-
vest life of a root or tuber crop. The term transpiration is used to describe
natural evaporation of moisture from the surface of the crop. Excessive
Postharvest Handling and Storage of Root and Tubers 81
There are principally two methods of harvesting root and tuber crops. These
are hand harvesting and machine harvesting. In developing countries, root
82 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
and tuber crops are almost entirely harvested by hand. Hand harvesting
when properly done is the best because the crops suffer less damages than
machine harvesting.
There are different types of farm tools and implements that are used
for harvesting root and tuber crops and they range from cutlasses, hoes,
sticks and machetes. Root and tubers are likely to suffer some degree of
mechanical injury at harvesting because of the nature of the tools used but
harvesting is made easier where the crops are grown on heaps, mounds or
ridges as is practiced in yam growing areas of Nigeria.
It is important to note that the quality of the root/tuber crop once har-
vested cannot be improved but only maintained. Therefore careful har-
vesting, harvesting at peak quality, removal of field heat, proper handling
prompt transportation and curing are all important to successful posthar-
vest life of root and tuber crops.
Harvesting should be done during cool hours of the day and produce
kept shaded. Crops meant for storage shall be free from cuts, bruises, and
abrasions and should be cured immediately (Siddiqui, 2015, 2016). Curing
is so important in root and tubers because it helps to head the wounds
sustained during harvesting and also assist in toughening of the delicate
skin. Curing in root crops generally can be accomplished by under tropical
conditions by subjecting the root to temperature of 27–29°C and relative
humidity 85–95% for 4–5 days.
Handling refers to the way and manner the crop is treated between harvest-
ing and marketing. Proper handling is a panacea to good postharvest life of
the crop. Even if the crop is properly harvested but mishandled the storage
or postharvest life will be short.
In developing countries like Nigeria most root and tuber crops are
harvested badly, subjected to direct sunlight and transported in open and
badly managed vehicles. In many instances a number of people sit on top
of the produce. These are of course what lead to the short postharvest and
storage life of root and tubers.
Postharvest Handling and Storage of Root and Tubers 83
Transportation of root and tuber crops from the farm to storage area or
from tuber storage area to marketing or retail is also very important. This
is so because the tubers in the course of transportation can sustain some
injuries and as such get infected with a disease-causing organism.
The tubers during transportation can be exposed to temperature
extreme, for example, direct sunlight. This in turn can speed up the rate
of respiration in the crop and therefore shortens the postharvest life of the
root or tuber.
Generally there is no organized means of transportation of agricul-
tural produce from the farm to warehouse or market. All sorts of vehicles/
means of transportation are used. For example donkeys, cars, vans, lor-
ries, trucks, motorcycles and even bicycles are normally used. Most of
the vehicles also are not in good condition and therefore it is a common
sight to see a van or lorry loaded with a full load of an agricultural pro-
duce broken down and under harsh environmental condition.
Farmers through experience have learnt that root and tuber crops dete-
riorate rapidly once harvested and have develop methods to contract this
problem using several techniques to ensure that the qualities of the root or
tuber are preserved during storage. The basic requirements for the storage
84 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
of root or tuber crops differ from one crop to the other and also from one
region to another depending on several factors. Even for the same crop,
storage methods can vary depending on the reason for storage and ultimate
use (Ihekeronye and Ngoddy, 1985). Storage methods for root and tuber
crops can briefly be classified into:
i. traditional storage methods for root and tubers;
ii. imported/modern storage methods for root and tuber crops.
The most common traditional method of root and tuber crops in the trop-
ics after they are harvested are pit storage, storing in house, storing on
platforms in the open, leaving the crop underground until needed, clamp
storage and barns for yams particularly (Ihekeronye and Ngoddy, 1985).
a. Pit storage of root and tuber crops
Pit of various dimensions are usually dug on the ground for storage of root
and tuber crops. The major advantage of pit storage method especially for
root and tuber crops is that the tuber can be stored for fairly long period of
time without serious alteration in the quality of the tuber. While the disad-
vantage of it is that it is not possible to inspect the crop and an infection on
one tuber can migrate to other.
b. Barn storage
The barns are standing platforms elevated above the grand, and usually
made of wood and covered on top with grass or thatch. The structure is
specifically used for storage of yams. The advantages of yam barn include:
• product can be inspected while on storage;
• there is fairly enough air in circulation;
• spoilt is products can easily be spotted and isolated from the rest.
The problem of storing fresh cassava has led to the traditional practice
of root underground until needed; and once harvested they are consumed
or processed immediately. The major advantage of this method is that the
crop can stay for a long period of time. The disadvantage of it is that large
area of land is occupied, and the longer the storage period the more fibrous
and woody the cassava is.
b. Irradiation method
The used of gamma irradiation to inhibit sprouting has also been success-
fully used to reduced the losses and prevent sprouting of tubers for a period
of up to eight months. The method has the advantage of keeping the tuber
intact without spoilage for a long period of time but highly sophisticated
and capital intensive. The Nigerian government has an irradiation facility
at SHEDA near Abuja, but the facility is yet to be commercialized.
Root and tubers are perishable and therefore for longer storage life, they
need to be stored at conditions optimum for their storage. Tropical root
and tubers must be stored at temperatures that will protect the crops from
chilling, since chilling injury can cause internal browning, surface pit-
ting and increased susceptibility to decay (Kitinoja and Kader, 2003).
The recommended storage conditions for root and tuber crops are listed
in Table 2.3.
88 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
KEYWORDS
•• Curing operation
•• Dormancy and Spouting
•• Harvesting indices
•• Postharvest harvest handling
•• Postharvest quality
•• Root and tuber crops
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CHAPTER 3
POSTHARVEST MANAGEMENT OF
COMMERCIAL FLOWERS
SUNIL KUMAR,1 KALYAN BARMAN,2 and SWATI SHARMA3
1
Department of Horticulture, North Eastern Hill University, Tura
Campus, West Garo Hills District, Tura – 794002, Meghalaya, India,
E-mail: [email protected]
Department of Horticulture (Fruit and Fruit Technology), Bihar
2
CONTENTS
3.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 93
3.2 Reasons for Decline in Vase Life of Cut Flowers........................... 94
3.3 Factors Affecting Postharvest Life of Commercial Flowers........... 95
3.3.1 Genotype............................................................................. 96
3.3.2 Pre-Harvest Factors............................................................. 96
3.3.3 Temperature......................................................................... 97
3.3.4 Controlled and Modified Atmospheres............................... 97
3.3.5 Chilling Injury..................................................................... 98
3.3.6 Water Relations................................................................... 98
3.3.7 Cut Flowers......................................................................... 99
3.3.8 Desiccation.......................................................................... 99
92 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
3.1 INTRODUCTION
A fresh flower is a living specimen even though it has been cut from the
plant. Its maximum potential vase life is very short. Whether we grow
94 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
fresh flowers for the local farmers’ market and retail florist or have a large
operation that sells truckloads to the national wholesale market, growers
need to move product from the field to the consumers in a manner that
ensures a high quality product. Many impinging forces can interact to
reduce vase life of cut-flowers and requires successful postharvest man-
agement for preserving the potential life of fresh flowers (Siddiqui, 2015).
There are various reasons and factors, which influence the postharvest life
of cut flowers.
• Food depletion;
• Attack by bacteria and fungi;
• Normal maturation and aging;
• Wilting due to water stress and xylem blockage;
• Bruising and crushing;
• Fluctuating temperatures during storage and transit;
• Color change-bluing;
• Accumulation of ethylene;
• Poor water quality;
• Suboptimal cultural practices or conditions.
As a grower, we must be aware of these problems and how to solve
them with good postharvest care. Cold storage and proper attention to
maintaining optimum cold storage temperatures will slow normal matura-
tion and aging, bacterial and fungal growth and bluing of flowers, besides
solving any improper temperature control problems. Consistent use of flo-
ral preservatives, careful handling and good sanitation practices will solve
food depletion, poor water quality, bruising and crushing, wilting, and bac-
terial and fungal attack problems. Ethylene accumulation can be reduced
by using silver thiosulfate (STS), good sanitation practices and good ven-
tilation. Sub-optimal cultural practices and conditions can only produce
substandard flowers and it is difficult to improve the quality of flowers
after harvest. Thus, we need proper postharvest management practices for
cut flowers that include both harvest and handling. Harvest includes the
decisions like when, how and where to cut and the actual act of cutting the
flowers. Handling is everything else involved in preparing the flowers for
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 95
market. Exactly how these steps are done depends on the crop, the mar-
ket and the operation size. Since flowers are delicate, graceful and highly
perishable, it needs some important post-harvest treatments like condition-
ing or hardening, pulsing or loading and pre-cooling etc. These treatments
keep the flowers fresh while under packaging and lengthen the postharvest
life of cut flowers. Also, postharvest qualities of cut flowers are evaluated
on the basis of following criterion:
• Final size and shape of flower;
• Development of florets in spike and of lateral florets or spike;
• Changes in fresh weight of flowers;
• Turgidity and freshness of flowers at the consumer end;
• Objective measurements of changes in petal color;
• Stability of the stem or pedicel;
• Yellowing or browning of foliage or stem;
• Water uptake on day after harvest;
• Finally, “Vase Life” represents the potential useful longevity of the
flowers to the consumer.
Therefore, for proper post-harvest handling and prolonging vase life
of cut flowers, we need several steps to make the commercial floriculture
venture as a profitable trade.
The majority of the commercial flowers have relatively short lives. The
delicate petals of flowers are easily damaged and are often highly sus-
ceptible to diseases. Even under optimum conditions, their biology leads
to early wilting, abscission or both. The post-harvest life of commercial
flowers is affected by physical, environmental and biological factors.
Choice of plant material and pre-harvest factors plays an important role.
After harvest, temperature become dominant and affects plant water rela-
tions, growth of disease, response to physical stresses, carbohydrate status
and the relationship among endogenous and exogenous growth regulators.
The role of these factors and the response of commercial flowers to them
have now been established. Some of the research findings have led to the
96 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
3.3.1 GENOTYPE
The postharvest life of cut flowers varies enormously from the ephemeral
flowers of the daylily to the extremely long-lived flowers of some orchid
genera. Marked variations are also observed within genera and species that
provide a great opportunity for breeders to develop flowers, which remain
fresh for longer duration. Color, form, productivity and disease resistance
continue to be the targets of breeding programs. This can be seen by com-
paring the postharvest life of different cultivars from the same breeder. It
has been observed that Alstroemeria showed variation of more than 100% in
lines in respect of time of petal fall and leaf yellowing. Elibox and Umaharan
(2008) reported vase lives of anthurium cultivars ranging from 14 to 49
days. A simple model, based on abaxial stomatal density and flower color
accurately predicted the relative vase life ranking of different cultivars that
provides an excellent tool for future breeding. Variations in other important
postharvest characteristics have also been reported for ethylene sensitivity
in carnations. Five out of the thirty eight cultivars of carnation tested were
insensitive to ethylene indicating the breeding opportunities not only for
extending vase life but also eliminating the problem of ethylene-induced
senescence and abscission (Woltering and Van Doorn, 1988; Wu et al., 1991;
Reid and Wu, 1992) and in roses a difference in vase life of modern rose
cultivars from 5 to 19 days were noticed (Evans and Reid, 1988; Macnish
et al., 2010c). Mokhtari and Reid (1995) analyzed the difference in vase life
between two rose cultivars and noted several morphological and anatomi-
cal characteristics that correlated with improved water uptake and longer
vase life. Whereas, Clements and Atkins (2001) characterized a single-gene
recessive mutant (Abs) of Lupinus angustifolius L. ‘Danja’ in which no
organs abscise in response to continuous exposure to high concentrations of
ethylene. A long-lived delphinium mutant also showed no ethylene-induced
sepal abscission (Tanase et al., 2009). These mutants indicated the opportu-
nity for a genetic approach to prevent flower abscission and petal abscission
that is a common postharvest problem in cut flowers.
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 97
It seems axiomatic that pre-harvest factors would strongly affect the post-
harvest performance of cut flowers. Marissen and Benninga (2001) stud-
ied a range of pre- and post-harvest factors using multivariate analysis and
regression techniques and demonstrated that mean relative humidity in the
greenhouse was the most important variable determining the differences in
vase life of roses. The number of branches per square meter at harvest time
also influenced the vase life of rose, since it represents alternative sinks.
However, In et al. (2009) accurately predicted the vase life of greenhouse
grown cut roses using a neural network approach with 29 environmental,
morphological and physiological parameters as the input layer.
3.3.3 TEMPERATURE
The marked effects of temperature were first quantified on the vase life
of carnation cut flowers in 1973 (Maxie et al., 1973). Respiration of cut
flowers has a very high Q10 value. The Q10 value observed for narcissus is
more than 7 between 0 and 10°C (Cevallos and Reid, 2001). The close link
between respiration, growth and senescence in these poikilotherms means
that a narcissus flower held at 10°C may lose as much vase life in 1 day as
does a similar flower held for one week at 0°C. For critical measurement
of the effect of temperature on flower respiration, a dynamic system has
been adopted in which the effect of a chosen temperature was measured on
replicate single flowers (Cevallos and Reid, 2000, 2001; Celikel and Reid,
2002, 2005). The cut flower industry is aware of the importance of cool
temperatures in improving long distance marketing of flowers by adoption
of forced air pre-cooling and the use of cool rooms.
The close association between flower respiration during storage and vase
life after storage suggests the potential usefulness of controlled (CA) or
modified (MA) atmospheres, in which the O2 content of the storage atmo-
sphere is reduced, sometimes with an increase in the CO2 content. The
beneficial effects are attributed to reduced respiration (resulting from low
98 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
3.3.8 DESICCATION
It has long been known that plant hormones and plant growth regulators
can have dramatic effects on floral longevity. The dramatic effects of pol-
lination on orchid flowers (anthocyanin accumulation, wilting) have long
been explained in terms of a response to plant hormones and the interplay
among them (Arditti, 1975). Ethylene is certainly foremost among the hor-
mones affecting flower longevity, but other hormones can affect sensitiv-
ity to ethylene and a large group of flowers is insensitive to ethylene. The
nature of the senescence signal in ethylene-insensitive flowers remains to
be established, but there is evidence that ABA and GA may respectively
play accelerating and retarding roles.
3.3.9.1 Ethylene
silver thiosulfate complex (Veen and Vande Geijn, 1978) has provided an
important commercial tool as silver thiosulfate, still in wide spread use
for preventing ethylene-mediated senescence and abscission in cut flowers
and potted plants. Other inhibitors of ethylene synthesis (amino ethoxyvi-
nyl glycine, aminooxyacetic acid) and action (2,5-norbornadiene) were
also effective to varying degrees, but none is presently being used com-
mercially. Sisler et al. (1984) synthesized diazo-cyclopentadiene (DACP),
a cyclic diolefin with an attached reactive diazo group, and found that it
was very effective in inhibiting ethylene action when dissociated with UV
light after being applied to the tissue. Curiously, the activity only required
exposure to fluorescent light, not the expected shorter wavelength UV
(Sisler and Blankenship, 1993), and DACP treated with fluorescent light
was just as active as DACP itself (Blankenship and Sisler, 1993; Sisler and
Lallu, 1994). Examination of the mixture of breakdown products in the
irradiated DACP revealed the presence of 1-MCP which these researchers
found to be a potent inhibitor of ethylene action (Sisler and Blankenship,
1996). This material has now become a standard treatment for ethylene-
sensitive flowers and potted plants (Serek et al., 1994b, 1995a, b) applied
either as a gas in an enclosed space, or through the use of sachets or nano-
sponges (Seglie et al., 2011) that are placed in boxes prior to transporta-
tion. However, the volatile nature of 1-MCP restricts its application to
an airtight environment. A non-volatile 1-MCP formulation N, N-dipropyl
(1-cyclopropenylmethyl) amine (DPCA) has recently been successfully
tested for improvement of postharvest quality of ornamental crops (Seglie
et al., 2010). Spray application of this new formulation could provide
a major advantage for handling ornamental crops, since they could be
treated prior to harvest in the field or greenhouse. The response of ethyl-
ene-sensitive ornamentals to treatment with 1-MCP varies widely due to
the reason that the inhibitory effects are quickly lost at room temperature
and wears off quite quickly.
Cameron and Reid (2001) studied the ethylene-induced petal abscis-
sion in Pelargonium and measured the response to ethylene by determin-
ing percentage petal abscission from detached flowers after a 2 h ethylene
exposure. The half-life of 1-MCP activity was determined to be 2, 3, and
6 days after 1-MCP treatment at 25, 20, and 12°C, respectively, and there
was no evidence for a residual effect after 4 or 5 days at the two warmer
temperatures. The effects of temperature and perhaps differences among
102 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
the pattern of endogenous ABA content in rose petals, where the increase
in ABA concentration occurs 2 days after the surge in ethylene production
(Mayak and Halevy, 1972). Also, Daylilies are ethylene-insensitive (Lay-
Yee et al., 1992), ABA presumably induces senescence independently of
ethylene (Panavas et al., 1998b). The fact that ABA accumulates in day-
lily tepals before any increase in activities of hydrolytic enzymes and even
before the flowers has opened was considered evidence that the hormone
may coordinate early events in the transduction of the senescence signal
(Panavas et al., 1998b). Application of ABA to pre-senescent daylily tepals
resulted in a loss of differential membrane permeability, an increase in lipid
peroxidation, increase in the activities of proteases and nucleases, and the
accumulation of senescence-associated mRNAs (Panavas et al., 1998b).
However, during senescence of daffodil flowers, although ABA accumu-
lated in the tepals as they senesced, it did not appear to play a signaling role
in natural senescence (Hunter et al., 2002). The increase in ABA concen-
trations in the tepals occurred after the induction of senescence-associated
genes. They concluded that the increase in ABA content is therefore most
likely a consequence of the cellular stresses that occur during senescence
and suggested that the hormone does not trigger senescence but may help
drive the process to completion.
3.3.9.3 Cytokinins
TDZ has also proved to have remarkable effects in improving the post-
harvest life of potted flowering plants. Leaf yellowing is a common post-
harvest problem with potted flowering crops and low concentrations of
TDZ are very effective in preventing this symptom in a wide range of
crops. Researchers showed that the TDZ treatment appears to maintain the
photosynthetic ability of the plants, since fresh and dry weights of TDZ-
treated plants are much higher than those of the controls. After 2 months,
potted cyclamen plants treated with 5 mM TDZ maintained full display
value, while control plants had almost ceased flowering and were showing
obvious etiolation in response to the low light of the display environment.
Gibberellins, auxins and other plant hormones and regulators have posi-
tive and negative effects on floral longevity. Auxin is considered an impor-
tant component for the rapid senescence response in orchids and other
flowers to pollination (Arditti, 1975). Several workers observed that plant
growth regulators shows positive response in longevity of the cut flow-
ers. Saks and Staden (1993) showed an increase in longevity of carnation
flowers treated with 0.1 mM gibberellic acid (GA). Commercially, GA
(sometimes in combination with BA) is used in solutions to prevent leaf
yellowing in cut bulb flowers and potted flowering plants. GA treatments
may have the undesirable side effect of increased stem or scape length.
But, floral longevity are largely absent by the use of jasmonic acid, brassi-
nosteroids, and salicylic acid on plant growth, development and responses
to biotic and abiotic stress (Ashraf et al., 2010). Similar to auxins, brassi-
nosteroids stimulate ethylene biosynthesis and their effects on ethylene-
sensitive flowers would be expected to be negative. Jasmonic acid reduced
life of petunias and Dendrobium through stimulation of ethylene produc-
tion (Porat et al., 1993). However, the salicylic acid signaling pathway
has shown response for up-regulation of genes in leaf senescence (Morris
et al., 2000), but the effects of down-regulating this pathway on flower
senescence have not been studied.
106 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
3.3.10 DISEASE
The high respiration of flowers and the energy required for flower growth,
bud opening and floral display requires substantial energy reserves in
harvested cut flowers. The primary component in floral preservatives is
a simple sugar like fructose, glucose or sucrose that reflects the profound
effects of added carbohydrates on flower development, opening and dis-
play life. Responses to sugar in the vase solution include improved floral
opening (Doi and Reid, 1995), improved pigmentation and size of the
opening flowers (Choetal, 2001), improved water relations (Acock and
Nichols, 1979) and even reduced sensitivity to ethylene (Nichols, 1973).
In gladiolus, senescing flowers appear to supply carbohydrate to those still
developing. Therefore, removal of senescing florets on gladiolus spikes,
significantly reduced opening and size of florets (Serek et al., 1994a). The
most striking effects of carbohydrate stress in harvested cut flowers is
the blackening of leaves of cut flower proteas (Reid et al., 1989). These
108 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Basically, those forces which improve crop quality before and after har-
vest usually improve vase life. Light intensity is very important. A crop
grown under low light, such that light is a limiting factor for photosyn-
thesis, will be low in carbohydrate content. Respiration continues after
the flower is harvested, but little photosynthesis occurs, because light is
limited in the packing house, florist shop, and consumer’s home. When
carbohydrates are low, respiration is very low and flower senescence
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 109
Excessive water loss from flowers can lead to wilting and reduction
in quality and vase life. After harvest, flowers should be removed from
the field or greenhouse and refrigerated as soon as possible. Leaving the
flowers out of water, in warm air or in warm drifts such as from a heater,
causes considerable damage. Flowers should be in water and under cool
temperatures as much as possible from the time they are cut until they
reach the final customer.
Low carbohydrates are another reason for flower deterioration. A low
carbohydrate supply can occur as a result of improper storage temperature
and handling. Respiration continues to be governed by temperature after
harvest. Low temperatures reduce respiration and conserve carbohydrates,
thereby prolonging quality and vase life. Each of the many stages in the
marketing channel must be watched. Flowers should be placed in cold
storage as soon after harvesting as possible. They should be refrigerated
during surface transport and during holding periods at the wholesaler and
retailer. Serious damage occurs when flowers are left on a heated loading
dock at the motor or air-freight terminal or when they are left sitting in a
hot warehouse for a day or so.
The harmful effect of ethylene with fruits, especially apples, gives off
large quantities of ethylene gas, making it inadvisable to store contain-
ing flowers in coolers. Ethylene is evolved from plant tissue, particularly
injured and old plant tissue. The cooler should be kept clean of plant
debris such as cut stems and leaves that might accumulate on the floor. Old
unsalable flowers should be discarded. Ethylene gas has many deleterious
effects. Generally it causes premature deterioration of flowers. Ethylene
can cause flower wilting and is generally not reversible.
3.4.3 ETHYLENE
and flower petals to close. There are three strategies to prevent ethylene
damage:
1. Keep ethylene from flowers by preventing ethylene pollution;
2. Remove ethylene from the atmosphere;
3. Inhibit the effect of ethylene on flowers.
Some specific measures to prevent ethylene damage on flowers are:
1. Make sure CO2 generators in greenhouses and oil or gas heaters
in greenhouses and handling areas are working properly and well
vented.
2. Protect plants against pest and diseases.
3. Prevent pollination of flowers.
4. Harvest flowers at optimum stage.
5. Avoid physical injury to flowers during handling.
6. Cool flowers as soon as possible after harvest.
7. Keep storage and handling facilities clean, and remove diseased
and dying plant material.
8. Do not use internal combustion engines in any handling work or
production areas.
9. Have good air circulation and ventilation in handling and storage
areas.
10. No smoking in handling and storage areas.
11. Do not store flowers with ethylene producing fruits and vegetables.
12. Do not store newly harvested flowers in bud stages with fully open
flowers.
13. Use ethylene scrubbers in cold storage area.
14. Use STS treatment on sensitive species.
15. Use other chemical treatments in floral preservatives.
There are various chemicals that can inhibit the effect of ethylene. The
most common is the metal ion silver. It usually is applied to flowers in
the form silver thiosulfate, STS. It acts on both ethylene receptors and
production sites in the flower. This protects the flowers from ethylene in
the environment and it stops the flower from producing ethylene itself.
Other chemicals are 1-MCP (1-methylcyclopropene) a gas which acts
only on receptors, but is not available commercially, and EVB (Pokon and
112 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Chrystal) and Vita Flora which act on the flower’s ethylene production
sites. To treat or pulse flowers with STS, stems are placed in STS solution
for 20 min at 18°C. Floralife sells a two-part solution that makes STS.
Sanitation is of utmost importance in handling fresh cut flowers. The
handling area and cold storage should be cleaned and sanitized after each
use. Equipment, cutting utensils, containers and handling surfaces should
be cleaned and disinfected with a 1:10 bleach solution. Unmarketable
flowers should be disposed of after each harvest. Dirty harvest and hold-
ing containers and cutting utensils spread disease. Dying plant material is
a reservoir for plant disease organisms and produces ethylene. All shorten
the vase life of flowers.
3.4.4 HARVEST
The most important factors for harvest are when, how and where, “when”
the plant material will reach the optimum stage of development and
“when” during the day to harvest. Each plant material has its own best
harvest stage and this can vary depending on the use of, and market for, the
plant material. Materials for preserving usually are harvested more mature
than those for fresh, wholesale markets.
The other “when” is, when the best time of day for harvesting flow-
ers is? The best time is the coolest part of the day and when there is
no surface water from dew or rain on the plants. Also, harvesters need
enough light to see what they are harvesting. This usually is in the cool
of the morning after the dew has dried. Late afternoon or evening also
has possibilities because the plants have stored carbohydrates from the
day, which will provide a food reserve for the plant material. “How” and
“where” go together? Besides knowing at what stage of development to
harvest, where and how to cut the flower on the plant also is important.
This is most important on plants that produce multiple flowers/crops
per season. The growers want to harvest the longest stem possible with-
out sacrificing future production. For this, leave at least two- to five-
nodes (growing points) below cut to ensure new growth. Very vigorous
plants can be cut back to fewer nodes, while less vigorous plants should
have more nodes left. Most stems should be at least 15 to 18 inches
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 113
long. Longer lengths usually are better. It does not matter if the cut is
slanted or squared, but it does matter that one should use sharp, clean
cutting knife/secateur. Sharp cutting knife/secateur will not crush the
xylem and block the flow of water up the stem. Clean knife/secateur
will not introduce harmful microbes to the cut stems. Some shears are
designed to hold the flower after it is cut. Inexperienced harvesters may
find shears less dangerous than knives. Cutting knife/secateur should
be cleaned daily with disinfectant, for example, 1:10 solution of chlo-
rine bleach in water. Flowers with sticky sap require special treatment
immediately after harvest. To prevent the flow of the sticky sap, which
can block the xylem, dip the cut ends in boiling water for 10 sec or sear
with a flame, immediately after harvest. For example, poppies, mignon-
ette and poinsettia.
For better vase life and quality, the flowers should be harvested at opti-
mum developmental stage. Flowers harvested at immature stage do not
develop properly in water or vase solution after harvest. If, however, har-
vested late, flowers last only for a short duration. Although, there is no
general rule to decide the optimum stage of harvest of flowers, the stage
for cutting flowers for direct sale varies with the types of flowers and
their varieties. The flowers of gladiolus, lilium, hippeastrum, iris and tulip
should be harvested when their flower buds show color, while the flowers
of cymbidium, cattleya, dendrobium, phalaenopsis, gaillardia, helianthus,
cyclamen, dahlia, calendula and rudbeckia when they are fully opened.
TABLE 3.1 Optimal Stage of Development for Harvest of Fresh Cut Flowers
Common Name Species Stage of Development
African Marigold Tagetes erecta Fully open flowers
Annual Gaillardia Gaillardia pulchella Fully open flowers
Astilbe Astilbe hybrids One-half florets open
Bachelor’s Button Centaurea spp. Flowers beginning to open
Pot Marigold Calendula officinalis Fully open flowers
Canterbury Bells Campanula spp. One-half florets open
China Aster Callistephus chinensis Fully open flowers
Clarkia Clarkia unquiculata One-half florets open
Glory Lily Gloriosa superba Almost fully open flowers
Cockscomb Celosia argentea var. cristata One-half florets open
Stock Matthiola incana One-half florets open
Tulip Tulipa cvs. Half-colored buds
Foxglove Digitalis purpurea One-half florets open
Sunflower Helianthus annuus Fully open flowers
Coreopsis Coreopsis grandiflora Fully open flowers
Daffodils Narcissus cvs. Goose neck stage
Dahlia Dahlia cvs. Fully open flowers
Daylily Hemerocallis cvs. Half-open flowers
Delphinium Delphinium spp. One-half florets open
Dutch Iris Iris x hollandica Colored buds
English Daisy Bellis perennis Fully open flowers
Freesia Freesia hybrids First bud beginning to open
Gladiolus Gladiolus cultivars 1 to 5 buds showing color
Golden rod Solidago spp. One-half florets open
Amaranth Amaranthus tricolor One-half florets open
Larkspur Consolida ambigua 2 to 5 florets open
Lily-of-the-Valley Convallaria majalis One-half florets open
Lisianthus Eustoma grandiflorum 5 to 6 open flowers
Lupine Lupinus cvs. Russell One-half florets open
Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus Fully open flowers
Pansy Viola x wittrockiana Almost open flowers
Peony Peonia cvs. Colored buds
Perennial Gaillardia Gaillardia x grandiflora Fully open flowers
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 115
flower has at the least the same vase life potential as a flower cut mature
(Table 3.1).
Bud harvesting enables a grower to produce more crops per year in
the greenhouse space. There is a significant increase in net return to the
grower. There are other advantages to this system. Buds are more immune
to handling injuries and ethylene toxicity, making a higher-quality final
product possible. As in the case of mature harvested flowers, buds will
dry store very well, enabling one to build up the inventory for higher-
priced market dates. Bud harvesting is not a new concept for all crops,
since roses, gladiolus, iris, tulips, peony, etc., have always been cut in the
bud stage.
When needed, buds are removed from the storage box, one-half inch
of stem is cut off, and they are placed in a floral preservative solution. The
buckets of buds are held in an opening room at 21–24°C until the buds are
fully open. A low light intensity is provided in the opening room. The open
flowers may be held under refrigeration in the preservative solution or they
may be sold directly. The quality and longevity of these flowers has been
reported to be superior to those harvested at maturity.
116 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
3.4.4.3 Handling
Once harvested, there are a series of steps or tasks done to prepare the
flowers for market. These are collectively called handling. These handling
steps include:
1. Grading
2. Leaf Removal
3. Bunching
4. Recutting
5. Hydration
6. Special Treatments
7. Packing
8. Precooling
9. Cold Storage
10. Delivery to Market
Not all of these are done to all flowers and whether they are used or not
depends on the market the flowers are going to be sold to. Where and how
the steps are done depends on the market and the facilities of the operation.
Flowers can have all the handling steps performed in the field, only some
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 117
done in the field with the rest in the packaging shed or have all handling
steps done in the packaging shed. Field handling usually is limited to leaf
removal, grading, bunching, hydrating, and packing with immediate trans-
port to market or cold storage for brief holding. Flowers for local retail mar-
kets often are packed this way since they are marketed immediately after
harvest. Flowers also can have these steps performed in the field and then
be transported to a packing shed where re-cutting, special treatments, pre-
cooling and dry packing can be performed. All the handling steps can be
done in a packaging shed. It often makes for a better flow of activities if they
are all done in the same place. Some of the steps can only be feasibly done in
the packaging shed, such as special treatments, pre-cooling, cold storage and
re-cutting. These extra steps usually are done for flowers going to wholesale
markets. The packaging shed may be an ultra modern air-conditioned build-
ing or an open air covered porch. The handling space should:
• Be shaded or covered to keep temperatures lower and prevent direct
sunlight on the flowers.
• Be well lit so you can see well when grading the flowers.
• Have a clean water source for preparing harvest, treatment and hold-
ing solutions, and for use in cleaning the area.
• Have ample space so all handling activities can be performed
smoothly, such that workers are not crossing over each other.
• Have a cold storage or at least a cooler, shaded place to store the
flowers until they are ready for market.
• Have a place to prepare for harvest activities.
Although, the first step after cutting the stem, whether to be handle them in
the field or in the packaging shed, should be to place in water or a harvest solu-
tion. This solution may be acidified (pH 3.5) either with citric acid or a floral
preservative. The harvest containers should be clean and disinfected after each
use. Flowers should never be laid on the bare ground. After the harvest con-
tainer is full of flowers, place them in a cool place until they can be handled or
taken to market. The cool place can be a shady area in the field or a refriger-
ated cold storage. Do not over fill the containers. This will bruise flowers and
cause some to tangle with each other. Leaves should be stripped off from the
stem. If the flowers are being field handled this can be done before they are
placed in the harvest containers or before they are bunched into marketable
bouquets. Usually, leaves are stripped off from the bottom one- third of the
stem or at least the ones that would be in any holding solution.
118 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
3.4.5 CONDITIONING
While handling in the field or in grading room, flowers suffer from water
stress. Conditioning is normally done by saturating the cut flowers with
water, initially with warm water at room temperature and then overnight
in the cool room. When flowers are wilted, turgidity can be restored by
immersing the entire flower in water for 1 h before conditioning. Hydration
is considerably promoted when water is de-aerated or acidified or when
wetting agent is added.
Conditioning of the flowers is required to rehydrate and to overcome slight
wilting. The purpose is to load the flower with water to ensure maximum tur-
gidity at the time of sale and utilization. Steps for proper conditioning:
1. Remove about 5–8 cm or 2–3 inches or more of the stem ends if the
stems have been out of water for a long time.
2. Soak the cut stem ends in warm water (40–43°C, pH 3.5), prefer-
ably in a cool room, until flowers are fully rehydrated.
Grading starts with deciding which flowers to harvest. Only marketable flow-
ers should be harvested. Marketable flowers are free of blemishes, including
both leaves and petals. The flowers can be grouped or graded by stem length
if there are differences and also by developmental stage. More mature ones
should be sold as soon as possible, while others can be held in cold stor-
age for later sales. How the flowers are bunched and packaged depends on
the market, where it is being used. In a local retail market, lot of flexibility
has been seen, but customers has to decide what sells are the best. Mixed
bunches and single type bunches are both popular. Larger flowers such as
lilies, gladiolus and sunflowers often are sold as single stems. Sleeving or
wrapping the bunch helps prevent the different bunches and flowers from
becoming tangled. Columbine, larkspur, delphinium, baby primrose, forget-
me-nots and buddleia are flowers that should be wrapped or sleeved prior to
marketing to prevent tangling. Wholesale markets have a set of guidelines
for the methods of bunching and packaging flowers. Most are bunched by
10’s or 5’s. Some, like roses and carnations, are bunched by 25’s. Lilies-of-
the-Valley are bunched in 25’s and Sweet Violets are bunched in 100’s with
a collar of leaves underneath the flowers. Large, expensive to grow flowers
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 119
can be sold by single stems. Most are boxed and shipped dry. Proper pre-
shipping handling is important in order to get flowers to the market in good
shape. The flowers should be well hydrated but not wet when packed. The
flowers like snapdragons and gladiolus need to be packed upright to prevent
the tips from curving. Special boxes or hampers are made for these types of
flowers. Once bunched, flowers should be hydrated, placed in water for a
while before they are packed dry. The hydrating step should include a step
where, after the flowers are bunched, the stems are recut under water to
eliminate any air bubbles in the xylem that can block the uptake of water.
These air bubbles can occur when the flowers were harvested. Once recut,
the flower can be placed in a general holding solution used to hydrate the
flowers or receive a special treatment such as silver thiosulfate. Flowers
usually are not packed dry into boxes in the field but are in the packing
shed for distant wholesale markets. When flowers are packed into boxes, the
bunch are sleeved or wrapped and then packed tightly so the bunches do not
move or vibrate in transit (causes bruising). The standard flower box is 12 ×
12 × 48 inches. There are smaller sizes, too, called half or quarter boxes that
are 6 × 12 × 48 inches and 6 × 6 × 48 inches, respectively.
1. Sort the flowers according to the following: cultivar, stage of matu-
rity, extent of damage due to pests and diseases, malformed floral
parts and color defects.
2. Grade according to stem length or size.
3. Bunch flowers according to number, cost, susceptibility to injury,
and display quality of individual flower heads.
4. Tie bunches below the flower head, and about two inches from the
cut stem ends. Tying should not be too loose or too tight. Rubber
bands are best, because they can hold the bunch securely. They are
easier to use and cheaper than tape or wire.
a.
Subjective evaluation of flower quality (Qualitative): It includes
color, fragrance, cleanliness and form.
b.
Objective evaluation of flower quality (Quantitative): It includes
flower diameter, leaf size, stem length, bulb circumference, plant
height and bunch weight.
120 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
3.4.6.2 Roses
3.4.6.3 Orchid
Grading is done mainly on length of the flower spike, flower no. size and
arrangement of flowers on spike.
3.4.6.4 Chrysanthemum
Stem length should not be less than 66 cm and those less than 51 cm should
be marked as short. Society of American Florist (SAF) specifications:
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 121
Pompons are graded into 250–340 g bunches having several stems. For
pot-mums, there is no standard grade. Plants should be bushy with good
growth, 2.0–2.5 times as tall as their pots, having a minimum of 15 flowers
and free from pest and diseases. A plant having 20–25 good quality flow-
ers would be desirable.
3.4.6.6 Gladiolus
Spikes are graded based on overall quality, length of spikes and number of
florets in each spike.
Grade Spike length (cm) Minimum number of florets
Fancy >107 cm 16
Special >96≤ 107 cm 15
Standard >81 to ≤ 96 cm 12
Utility ≤ 81 10
3.4.6.7 Carnation
White and pink standard carnations are in great demand followed by Red,
Yellow, Sky blue and Bicolor. Society of American Florist (SAF) sug-
gested the following inspection standards for cut carnation. Standard spec-
ifications are bright, clean, firm flowers and leaves, fairly tight petals near
the center of the unopened flowers, Symmetrical flower shape and size
characteristics of the cultivar, no split or mended calyx, no lateral bud or
sucker, no decay or damage, straight stem and normal growth.
For standard carnation Grade
Quality parameters Blue Red Green White
Min. flower diameter (cm) 7.0 5.7 _ _
Stem length (cm) 55 42.5–55 25–42.5 any
Stem strength Strong Strong Unrestricted –
122 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Extra Class
Produce which qualifies for Class I without the aid of any tolerance. This
excludes American Carnations with split calyx.
Class-I
Flowers must be of good quality, characteristics of the species variety.
They must be whole, fresh, unburied, free of animal or vegetables parasites
and resultant damage, free of residues of pesticides and other extraneous
matter affecting appearance and free of development defects. Tolerance
permitted up to 7 per cent.
Class-II
Flowers which do not meet all requirements of Class-I but are whole,
fresh, free of animal parasites. Slight defects such as malformation,
brushing, damage, small marks, weaker and less rigid stems may be
present provided they do not impair appearance. Tolerance permitted
upto 10%.
EC’s standards are generally applicable to all cut flowers – no sepa-
rate standard for different species of cut flowers have been established
with the exception of mimosa. Whereas, the United Nation’s Economic
Commission for Europe has recommended general as well as specified
standards for a number of flowers.
The U.S.A. has no official standards for cut flowers. The society of
America Florists has recommended standards for certain cut flowers which
included carnations. The grades are known as Blue, Red and Green and are
based on flower diameter and length of stem.
The ECE of UN or EEC standards ignore length of stem and flower
diameter in making class selections. Thus, Extra Class may contain classi-
fied flowers with both long and short stems. Nonetheless flowers must be
sorted out according to stem length as given below:
Description Code Minimum and Maximum Stem Length (in cm)
0 Less than 5 cm or flowers marked without stems
5 5–10
10 10–15
15 15–20
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 123
In any unit of presentation (e.g., bunch, bouquet or box, etc.) the maxi-
mum permitted difference between shortest and largest stem lengths is as
follows:
Description Code Stem length (cm)
For stem lengths 0–15 < 20 cm 2.5
For stem lengths 20–60 5
For stem lengths 60 and over > 60 cm 10
3.4.8 PRE-COOLING
flower senescence. It also prevents rapid water loss and decreases flower
sensitivity to ethylene. The pre-cooled flower should be packed in cold
room to prevent rapid rise of their temperature (Table 3.2).
3.4.9 PULSING
12 and 24 h. Too much sugar may result in leaf yellowing, although there
may be no noticeable injury to the flowers. To acidify the solution, it is
suggested to add a small amount of citric acid as follows:
For soft water, use 0.1 g/L
For medium hard water, use 0.3 g/L
For hard water, use 0.45 g/L
3.4.10 VASE-SOLUTION
Several methods have been developed for bud-opening in rose, mum, carna-
tion and gladiolus. It is necessary to select optimal bud stage for each flower
types. Bud smaller than optimum do not open to full size and do not produce
best quality flowers. The bud-opening solutions contain sucrose, germicide
and hormonal compound. These floral preservative solutions have maintained
manifold actions. It maintains turgidity in cut flowers, provides substrate for
continued respiration, prevents vascular blockage in the stem, stimulates
normal flower opening, prevents bacterial growth, and prevents undesirable
changes in petal color. The place for bud-opening should be equipped with
artificial light, humidity, temperature control and proper ventilation.
For bud cut carnation 10% sucrose + 200 ppm 8-HQC + 25 ppm AgNO3 +
75 ppm citric acid is advised. For tight bud rose, vase solution may contain
2% sucrose + 300 ppm 8-HQC. For chrysanthemum, 2% sucrose + 200 ppm
8-HQC + 150 ppm citric acid. Treatment with 200 ppm 8-HQC + 75 ppm cit-
ric acid + 25 ppm AgNO3. Flowers of bird-of-paradise cut at tight bud stage
can be opened successfully in the vase solution of 10% sucrose +250 ppm
8-HQC + 150 ppm citric acid. Treatment with 200 ppm 8-HQC + 5% sucrose
improve the flower quality and vase life of dendrobium, vanda, aranthera,
oncidium and aranchnis. The vase life of cymbidium, phalaenopsis is pro-
longed by using chrysal VB and sucrose. For gladiolus, a solution containing
600 ppm 8-HQC or Al2(SO4)3 (0.1%) + 4% sucrose is effective for extending
postharvest life of flowers. Sucrose at 3–6% in preservative solution of pH3.0
extended the vase life of gladiolus flower. For Dahlia, vase solution contains
10% sucrose + 0.2 mM AgNO3 or 10% sucrose + 0.2 mM AgNO3 + 200 ppm
8-HQS. For Gerbera, solution contains 7% sucrose + 25 ppm AgNO3 + 200
ppm 8-HQC. A pre-shipping dip of anthurium flower stems in solution of
2.25% 7 UP (Carbonated beverage) + 500 ppm benzoic acid/7.3 ppm Sodium
hypochlorite remarkably extended the vase life of anthurium flower.
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 129
3.4.11 CARNATION
3.4.12 ALSTROEMERIA
3.4.13 PACKAGING
Cut flowers are packed in rectangular bamboo baskets in India. The sides
and tops of baskets are lined with hessian cloth. Loose flowers are packed
in gunny bags or cloth bags and also in bamboo baskets tapering towards
bottom and lined with newspaper. In such packages flowers are compressed
due to improper size and stacking of the packages cannot absorb the load
weight, fresh flowers are damaged considerably. Therefore, it is necessary
to adopt modern methods of packaging, which can ensure protection of
flowers against physical damages. Water can ensure protection of flowers
against physical damages. Water loss and external condition are detrimen-
tal to the transported flowers. The main principles of packaging towards
long storage life and keeping quality are to lower the rate of transpiration,
resp. and cell division during transportation and storage. Hence, the ideal
packing should be air tight, water proof and strong enough to withstand
handling. For long distance transportation and storage, flowers should be
harvested 1–3 days earlier than those harvested for the direct sale.
1. Place the bunched flowers in sleeves to prevent them from becom-
ing entangled with each other. The sleeves may be made of plastic
sheets, absorbent paper, wax paper or cellophane. Do not close the
top of the sleeve.
130 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
The most suitable package material for cut blooms is corrugated fiber
board (CFB) boxes since they have isothermic properties. These boxes
are light in lit and can be made water resistant by using suitable adhesive
or coating with wax or plastic film. The boxes must be strong enough
to support the weight of at least 8 full boxes placed atop one another
under high humidity. The minimum length of the boxes should be about
twice the width and its width about twice the height. The dimension of
the boxes however, depends upon the length of cut flowers stems, type
of flowers to be packed and also on the space available inside standard
refrigerated trucks (Reefer van).
Size of the package should be just sufficient to hold the flowers or
flower holders tightly. If the package is oversized for the contents, the
empty space results in higher transpiration rate of the flowers and too
much space also allows the contents enough room for movement during
transportation, which may damage the flowers.
The boxes must be able to withstand low temperature and high humid-
ity and should preferably be wax coated from inside. Generally, the tests
conducted after conditioning the boxes at 0°C and 100% RH are Drop
test, compression test and vibration test. Small sized boxes are generally
preferred on account of its higher compression strength/unit area. Use of
telescope style boxes made of CFB is ideal.
The boxes /container should have an ISI marking also. For forced air-
cooling of flowers, packing boxes with vents on either side is used. In
such cases, the total vent area should equal to 4–5% of the area of the
end walls of the packing boxes. Excessive number of holes reduces the
strength of the package and increase transpiration loss. Ventilation holes
near the corners are to be avoided. If the cut flowers are wrapped with a
paper or foil, care must be taken that wrapping material do not impede
air-flow through the box.
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 131
Since cut flowers like orchid and anthurium are susceptible to damage by
chilling, they should be transported in water. For a prolonged transport, it is
recommended that each individual stalk should be placed in a plastic vial or
rubber balloon filled with water and tied to the flower stem with twine. The
end of flower stem can also be placed in absorbent cotton saturated with
water and enclosed in wax paper or polyethylene foil securing with twine.
Polyethylene foil is commonly used to protect flowers from water loss. Tight
packing in foil maintains relative humidity (RH) owing to its gas proof nature.
It helps to maintain a high level of CO2 and low level of O2. Such condition
keeps the resp. rate low and increase the longevity of the cut blooms. High
conc. of CO2 may also cause injuries in some flowers. Hence, very thin poly-
ethylene foil, 0.04–0.06 mm thick permits partial gas exchange.
While packing, special care should be taken for delicate flower buds and
flower heads. These buds or flower heads are protected by wrapping them
in soft paper or plastic mesh or by placing them in specially molded forms
made of plastic or cardboard.
In anthurium, damaged caused by the contact of the petals with the squa-
mon pistil is avoided by covering each blossom with cellulose wood or cellu-
lose acetate (used as plastic sleeve). The flowers heads of Gerbera are specially
protected by transparent PVC covers. In cattleya, shredded wax papers should
be placed around the flowers to prevent physical damage. Also, foil sacks
filled with air or N2 are also used for packing delicate exotic flowers.
3.4.15.1 Rose
3.4.15.2 Chrysanthemum
It requires special attention after harvest since mum start wilting rapidly.
Blooms are packed in bundles of 10–20 flowers, loosely tied with string or
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 133
3.4.15.3 Carnation
3.4.15.4 Gladiolus
Bundles of 12–20 spikes are made. About 60–100 spikes of gladiolus are
packed in a standard box (120 cm × 60 cm × 30 cm). Absorbent cotton is
placed near the swollen florets to avoid their flattening. Bunches should
be wrapped in paper and packed in gas tight polyethylene bags to protect
flowers from sudden fluctuation in temperature, bruising and moisture loss.
To avoid negative geotropic curvature of cut stems flowers are shipped in
upright position in boxes.
3.4.15.5 Anthurium
Since the flowers are transported wet, hence the cut ends of each flower
stem should be wrapped with cotton pad soaked with water and covered
with wax paper and security tied or stem-ends are fitted in plastic vial
containing water. In one method, spadix is dipped in melted paraffin to
reduced moisture loss and packed in polythene bags and thereafter placed
in carton. In another method, flowers are packed in moist boxes placing
134 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
the soft protective material between the spathe and spadix. They are some-
times fixed to the bottom of the box with tape or separation paper between
the layers. Foam or plastic supports are provided in the box. To maintain
high humidity polythene lining is provided in the box. Usually, 120 anthur-
ium cut spikes are accommodated in Std. sized packing box (21.6 cm ×
50.8 cm × 91.4 cm or 27.9 cm × 43.2 cm × 101.6 cm).
3.4.15.6 Gerbera
Flowers are packed in flat boxes containing protective inserts with holes
for individual flower stem. The stems are taped to the protective inserts
while placing in insulted flat box to protect them from cold or freezing
temperature. The flower heads of gerbera are specially protected by trans-
parent PVC covers, cardboard cups or plastic mini sleeves or plastic coated
metal grids measuring 70 × 50 cm with a mesh size of 2 × 2 cm.
3.4.15.7 Orchid
Some flower shows irregular cycle in the blooming season and to extend-
ing the season and delaying marketing in times of one production.
High flower quality and proper maturity at the time of harvest, lower
respiration rate, decreased water loss, inhibited ethylene production and
action, retarded bacterial and fungal infections are the factors affecting the
postharvest life of cut flowers.
Cold storage is recommended for all flowers that will not be in the market
immediately and any flowers sold wholesale. Low temperatures slow the
respiration rate of the flowers and prolong the vase life of the flowers. In
general, temperatures should be 0–4°C and have a relative humidity of
136 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
85–90%, for most flowers. Flowers should never be stored with fruits and
vegetables. Some fruits and vegetables produce ethylene that can dramati-
cally shorten the life of the flowers. Once flowers are bunched into mar-
ketable units they should be placed in cold storage.
If flowers have to be stored before marketing, a cool place (preferably
a refrigerated cold storage, especially for flowers) should be used. There
are many flowers that are not commonly found in the wholesale market
because they do not store well, ship well or last long. These should only
be used for local markets. These include foxglove, garden phlox, lupine,
clarkia, stevia, common stocks, candytuft, cornflower, feverfew, blue lace
flower, English daisy, calendula, pot marigold, sweet violets and gaillardia.
It is advisable that store the high-quality, disease free and sorted cut
flowers at the lowest temperature as possible. Avoid chilling injury. For
wet storage, keep the cut stem ends in water or flower preservative. For
dry-pack storage, seal flowers inside plastic bags or airtight cylinders
made of either plastic or metal. Gently press the sides of plastic con-
tainers to remove as much air as possible before sealing the bags. Wet
storage is ineffective in inhibiting the biological activity of flowers.
However, iris, gerbera, lily, snapdragon responds well in wet storage.
Plastic bags or boxes are used for dry storage. Flowers that show geotro-
pic bending like gladiolus, snapdragon, larkspur, lupin must be stored at
vertical position.
Flowers can be held in refrigerated storage for one to three weeks, depend-
ing on the species. Refrigerated storage is more generally used as an aid
for maintaining quality as flowers pass through the market channel. Dry
storage is used when flowers must be held for periods longer than one to
five days.
Only the best-quality flowers should be dry stored. Those of poor qual-
ity will have a short vase life when they are removed from storage. Flowers
should be cut and packaged for storage immediately without being placed
in water. Standard cardboard flower boxes are suitable, but a lining of
polyethylene film should be placed in them to cover the flowers and seal
in moisture. Desiccation can be a problem in long-term storage, especially
when an absorbent container such as cardboard is used.
A common problem of dry storage is the presence of free water
on the flowers, which encourages the development of diseases. While
flowers freeze only at temperatures below −1.5°C, the free water will
freeze at 0°C. Resulting ice crystals on the petals can be injurious.
Boxes and flowers packed at warm temperatures develop condensa-
tion (free water) as the plants and air inside are cooled. Because of the
polyethylene barrier, the water cannot escape. Disease, enhanced by
this moisture, is a common cause of failure in dry storage. Boxes of
flowers should be cooled open in a 3.3–4.4°C cooler, then sealed and
placed in a 0.5°C cooler.
Most flowers freeze at −2.8 to −1.7°C, so it is essential that the temper-
ature stay above this point. Flower life expectancy is lessened at 0.5°C and
drops rapidly at temperatures above that point. Many of the failures of this
system have been due to high temperatures or fluctuating temperatures.
Since the dry storage cooler should not be open too often, another cooler
is needed for regular refrigerated storage. The −0.5°C cooler is often built
inside the 1.6–4.4°C cooler to provide for a more uniform temperature.
Space should be left between boxes of flowers when they are placed in
storage initially. Respiration is occurring, and this produces heat. A large
stack of boxes can generate enough heat and provide sufficient insulation
to prevent thorough cooling of the inner flowers. Leave space between
each stack of boxes and between every other box in a stack to permit
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 139
the absorption of heat by circulating cool air. Flowers removed from dry
storage need to be hardened. Cut one-half inch from the bottom of each
stem. Place the flower in a preservative solution inside a 3.3–4.4°C cooler.
Allow the flowers to become fully turgid before marketing them; this will
take 12–24 hours. When properly handled, dry stored flowers should have
reasonable quality and the same longevity as fresh flowers. Poor tempera-
ture control or disease will decrease quality and longevity.
Dry storage is used only to a limited degree by the industry and
works best with chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemums, carnations, and
roses are the crops to which it is primarily applied. Much more potential
exists here than is being realized. The main reason for its low level of
acceptance has probably been failures due to poor handling of the system
(Tables 3.4 and 3.5).
TABLE 3.4 Method, Storage Temperature and Period for Cut Flowers
Flower Method Storage Temperature Period
Anthurium Dry 13°C 4 weeks
Bird of paradise Dry 8°C 4 weeks
Carnation Wet 4°C 4 weeks
Carnation Dry a
0–1°C 4–6 months
Carnation Dry 0.5–0°C 8 weeks
Chrysanthemum Dry 0.5–1°C 3–5 weeks
Cyclamen Dry 0–1°C 3 weeks
Cyclamen Wet 1°C 1 weeks
Daffodils Dry 1°C 14 days
Gerbera Wet 4°C 3–4 weeks
Gladiolus Dry a
2–4°C 4 weeks
Lilium Wet 1°C 4 weeks
Lilium Dry a
0–1°C 6 weeks
Daisy Dry 2°C 2 weeks
Peony Dry (0–1°C) 0.5 3°C 4 weeks
Rose Dry 0–1°C 3 weeks
Rose Wet 2–5°C 5–7 days
Snapdragon Wet 1–4°C 3–8 weeks
Orchid Dry 7–10°C 10–14 days
NOTE: Tight pack creating a modified atmosphere condition.
140 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
It was described first by Burg and Burg (1966). This method consists
of maintaining a product under constant sub atmospheric pressure
(40–60 mm Hg) combined with low temperature and ventilation with
fresh humid air; reduction in O2, continuous removal of C2H4 by creat-
ing C2H4 free environment; acceleration of the outward diffusion of the
different gases from within the tissue. This system is beneficial for cut-
tings, pet plants, cut flowers viz. carnation, mum, gladiolus, daffodils,
rose, orchid and snapdragon. Maintenance of low air pressure of 40–60
mm Hg in the storage cut flowers; prolongs storage period; improves post
storage life; larger bloom; reduced C2H4 production; reduced blaring and
bent neck in rose, retard growth of botrytis. PS provides a unique system
for creating air atmosphere nearly free from C2H4. Longest LPS period of
9 weeks was noted for carnation (highly susceptible to C2H4) (Tables 3.7
and 3.8).
Disadvantages of LPS:
It incurred high cost of installation, so best for laboratory.
Postharvest Management of Commercial Flowers 143
KEYWORDS
REFERENCES
Acock, B., & Nichols, R. (1979). Effects of sucrose on water relations of cut senescing
carnation flowers. Am. Bot. 44, 221–230.
Arditti, J. (1975). Orchids, pollen poison, pollen hormone and plant hormones. Orchid Rev.
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CHAPTER 4
POSTHARVEST MANAGEMENT
AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
OF MUSHROOMS
M. K. YADAV,1 SANTOSH KUMAR,2 RAM CHANDRA,1
S. K. BISWAS,3 P. K. DHAKAD,1 and MOHAMMED WASIM
SIDDIQUI4
Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of
1
CONTENTS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
1977), which enables them to grow and flourish over wide range of
natural lingo-celluloid waste materials.
Around 800 million people living in 46 countries are malnourished,
40,000 die every day of hunger and hunger-related diseases (Siddiqui,
2015; Swaminathan, 1995). In this context, mushroom cultivation repre-
sent one of the economically viable processes for the bioconversion mak-
ing it a potent weapon against malnutrition in developing countries like
India which have lowest per capita consumption of protein in the world
(Sohi, 1982; Wood, 1989; Chang and Miles, 1989). It is also consistent
with the emerging view that an ecologically oriented society must use its
wastes and resources rather than discarding them as useless materials.
Even in case that the world population would not increase any more,
there is an enormous amount of waste from field, agro-industry, and wood
industry. Only using 25% of the yearly burned cereal straw in the world
could result in a mushroom yield of 317 million metric tons (317 milliard
kg) of fresh mushroom per year (Chang and Miles, 1989). But on this
moment, the yearly mushroom production is only 6 milliard persons or
1 kg per year or 3 gram per day (Courvoisier, 1999). In fact counting the
early available world waste in agriculture (500 milliard kg) and forestry
(100 milliard kg), we can easily grow 360-milliard kg of fresh mushroom
on the total of 600 milliard kg dry wastes. This would bring us a yearly
mushroom food of 6 kg per head per year containing 4% protein in fresh
mushroom and we know that 30% of the world population is protein defi-
cient. On the other hand, we all know the high risk of further popula-
tion growth with again more need for food (field crops) and wood (forest)
swelling up the already so high mountains of wastes.
More than 2000 mushroom species exist in nature, but only approxi-
mately 22 species are intensively cultivated (Manzi, et al., 2001). Around
20 genera of mushrooms are being cultivated throughout the world, only
four types, viz., white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), oyster mush-
room (Pleurotus spp.), paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) and
milky mushroom (Calocybe indica) are grown commercially in India
with the white button mushroom contributing about 90% of total coun-
try’s production as against its global share of about 40% (Mehta et al.,
2011). Button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is the most popular variety,
fetches high price, still dominating the Indian and International market.
Mushrooms are now getting significant importance due to their nutritional
Postharvest Management and Processing Technology of Mushrooms 155
and medicinal value and today their cultivation is being done in about 100
countries. Production and consumption of mushrooms have tremendously
increased in India mainly due to increased in awareness of the commercial
and nutritional significance of this commodity. At present production of
mushrooms has crossed lakh tone with annual growth rate of above 15%
(Sharma and Dhar, 2010). In India, white button mushroom still contrib-
utes more than 85% of the total mushroom production, though its share is
below 40% in the global trade (Prakasam, 2012).
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of macro fungi. They include both
edible/medicinal and poisonous species. However, originally, the word
“mushroom” was used for the edible members of macro fungi and “toad-
stools” for poisonous ones of the “gill” macro fungi. Scientifically the
term “toadstool” has no meaning at all and it has been proposed that the
term is dropped altogether in order to avoid confusion and the terms edi-
ble, medicinal and poisonous mushrooms are used.
Edible mushrooms once called the “Food of the Gods” and still treated
as a garnish or delicacy can be taken regularly as part of the human diet or
be treated as healthy food or as functional food. The extractable products
from medicinal mushrooms, designed to supplement the human diet not
as regular food, but as the enhancement of health and fitness, can be clas-
sified into the category of dietary supplements/mushroom nutriceuticals
(Chang and Buswell, 1996). Food with appropriate nutritional value will
remain the essential and most important need for nutritional security of
the mankind.
Dietary supplements are ingredients extracted from foods, herbs, mush-
rooms and other plants that are taken without further modification for their
presumed health-enhancing benefits. There is an old Chinese saying, which
states that “Medicines and Foods Have a Common Origin.” Mushrooms
are source of quality protein having essential amino acids and high digest-
ibility. No cholesterol and low fat with ergosterol and polyunsaturated fatty
acids: good for heart. Low calorific food with no starch, low sugars: delight
of diabetics. High fiber, low sodium-high potassium diet: anti-hyperten-
sive. Good source of vitamin B-complex and vitamin C; only vegetable
source of vitamin D. Rich in minerals like copper (cardio-protective) and
selenium (anti-cancer), anti-HIV, anti-viral, anti-histaminic, hypo-choles-
terolemic, hepatic- and nephro-protective, anti-oxidant, stamina enhancer,
etc. (Chu et al., 2002).
156 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
4.2.1 VITAMINS
and vitamin ‘C’ (Ascorbic acid) (Chang and Buswell, 1996; Mattila et al.,
2000). Vitamin content of edible mushrooms has been reported by Esselen
and Fellers (1946), and Litchfield (1964).
4.2.2 PROTEINS
4.2.3 MINERALS
Mushrooms are also good source of minerals (Table 4.4) such as potas-
sium, phosphorus, sodium, calcium, and contain low but available form of
Iron. Sodium and potassium ratio is very high which idea is for patient of
hypertension.
The fruiting bodies of mushrooms are characterized by a high level of
well-assimilated mineral elements. Major mineral constituents in mush-
rooms are K, P, Na, Ca, Mg and elements like Cu, Zn, Fe, Mo, Cd form
minor constituents (Bano and Rajarathanum, 1982; Bano et al., 1981;
Chang, 1982). K, P, Na and Mg constitute about 56–70% of the total ash
content of the mushrooms (Li and Chang, 1982) while potassium alone
forms 45% of the total ash. Abou-Heilah et al. (1987) found that content
of potassium and sodium in A. bisporous was 300 and 28.2 ppm respec-
tively. A. bisporus ash analysis showed high amount of K, P, Cu and Fe
(Anderson and Fellers, 1942). Varo et al. (1980) reported that A. bisporus
contains Ca (0.04 g), Mg (0.16), P (0.75 g), Fe (7.8 g), Cu (9.4 mg), Mn
(0.833 mg) and Zn (8.6 mg) per kilogram fresh weight.
Fresh mushrooms have very short self-life and hence processing is recom-
mended to increase their shelf-life. Initially, fresh mushrooms are washed
Postharvest Management and Processing Technology of Mushrooms 161
in cold water and then blanched in boiling water for about 3–4 min. Then
they are dehydrated in a drier and packed. It is advisable to pre-treat
fresh mushrooms in a solution containing brine to prevent discoloration.
Packing is very critical as formation of moisture contaminates mushrooms
very quickly. Yield of dried mushroom depends upon many factors like
moisture content in fresh mushrooms, type of dryer, process employed,
moisture content required in the finished product etc. Hence average yield
is taken at 25%. Plain cans and a brine of 2% salt and 0.2% citric acid are
used for packing. The cans are exhausted at 19°C for 7–8 min, sealed and
processed under pressure for 20–25 min. The flow chart of processing is
given in Figure 4.1.
Mushrooms have very short shelf life – these cannot be stored or trans-
ported for more than 24 h at the ambient conditions prevailing in most
parts of the country. Due to presence of more than 90% moisture content,
mushrooms are highly perishable and start deteriorating immediately after
harvest. They develop brown color on the surface of the cap due the enzy-
matic action of phenol oxidase, this results in shorter shelf life. Loss of
texture, development of off flavor and discoloration results in poor market-
able quality and restricts trade of fresh mushrooms. Browning, veil-open-
ing, weight-loss and microbial spoilage are the most common postharvest
changes in the mushrooms which often result into huge economic losses.
Almost all the mushrooms have very short shelf-life but the paddy straw
mushroom has the shortest (few hours at the ambient) and Milky has very
good shelf-life (3–5 days) if microbial spoilage is taken care of. Most dam-
aging postharvest changes in mushrooms vary with species—it is blacken-
ing in the button mushroom, cap-opening in the paddy straw mushroom
and mucilage in the oyster mushroom, which affect their marketability
significantly. Weight loss is very serious problem in all the mushrooms as
these contain very high moisture (85–90%) and are not protected by the
conventional cuticle. Due to very high moisture and rich nutritive value,
microbial spoilage in mushrooms is also a problem.
Proper, sound and appropriate postharvest practices of storage and pro-
cessing are needed to sustain the budding mushroom farming and industry
in the country. In India, more than 90% of the total mushroom production
is still contributed by the common button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus).
Information about proper postharvest care and processing of such a perish-
able commodity is therefore of vital importance to keep the wheels of this
industry moving at the right speed; with the adoption of proper packaging,
storage and processing technologies, problems in marketing, like seasonal
gluts and distress sales, can also be ameliorated. We have endeavored to
deal with most important postharvest aspects of mushrooms – physiologi-
cal and biochemical changes, packaging and storage of fresh mushrooms,
long-term storage and processing.
The production of mushroom is done throughout the year by the
environmentally controlled units, but the seasonal growers come into
play during the winters and the supply at the local market exceeds
causing less profit due to fall in price and spoilage due to market sur-
plus. Mushrooms are highly consumable and get spoiled due to brown-
ing, flaccid, liquefaction, loss of consistency, flavor, etc., making it
unsalable. Most of the mushrooms, being high in moisture and delicate
in consistency, it cannot be stored for more than 24 h at the ambient
conditions prevailing in the tropics. Researchers, who studied spoilage
of fresh mushrooms, earlier believed the primary cause to be the enzy-
matic reactions in the living tissue. Later, it was suggested that spoil-
age might be caused by the action of bacteria on the mushroom tissue
and browning of mushrooms was due to a combination of auto enzy-
matic and microbial action on the tissue. Sound postharvest practices
have since been developed to extend the shelf life of fresh mushrooms.
Postharvest Management and Processing Technology of Mushrooms 163
White button mushroom still dominates the Indian and International mar-
ket and a lot of work has been done to minimize the loss in quality of the
mushrooms. In case of the button mushroom all the four most deleterious
changes namely, color browning, veil-opening, weight loss and microbial
spoilage ask for the utmost post-harvest care. Needless to say that these
changes are also accompanied by changes in the nutritional and medicinal
attributes of these mushrooms.
4.5.1 WASHING
The mushrooms are packed for transporting them to the market. While a
good package sells a product, a mediocre package can interfere with sale of
an otherwise excellent product. For the local markets in India, mushrooms
are packed in retail packs of 200 g or 400 g in simple polythene packs of
less than 100 gauge thickness. Large quantity packing of mushrooms is
done using polythene or pulp-board punnets, which will withstand long
distance transport. Plastic punnets 130 × 130 × 72–0.40, Cardboard chips
305 × 125 × 118–1.82, Plastic tray 330 × 280 × 145–2.30, Expanded poly-
styrene 400 × 333 × 167–4.56. These punnets are over-wrapped with dif-
ferentially permeable PVC or polyaccetate films. These over-wrappings
Postharvest Management and Processing Technology of Mushrooms 165
4.5.3 STORAGE
In this method, the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations are altered
inside the package and respiration rate gets altered. Controlled atmo-
spheric package reduces brown discoloration (enzymatic browning) and
the shelf life is extended (Ahmad and Siddiqui, 2015).
168 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Drying is perhaps the oldest technique known to the mankind for preserva-
tion of food commodities for long duration. It is the process of removal
of moisture from the product to such a low level that microbial and bio-
chemical activities are checked due to reduced water activity, which makes
the products suitable for safe storage and protection against the attack by
microorganisms during the storage. Mushrooms contain about 90% mois-
ture at the time of harvesting and are dried to a moisture level down below
10–12%. At a drying temperature of 55–60°C, the insects and microbes
on the mushrooms will be killed in few hours, which gives us the dehy-
drated final product of lower moisture content with longer shelf-life. The
temperature, moisture of the mushroom and humidity of the air affect the
color of the dried product. Dehydrated mushrooms are used as an impor-
tant ingredient in several food formulations including instant soup, pasta,
snack seasonings, casseroles, and meat and rice dishes. Dried mushrooms
can be easily powdered and used in soups, bakery products, etc. Mushroom
dried at higher temperature loose texture, flavor, color along with reduced
rehydrability. Most of the mushrooms except the button mushroom have
been traditionally dried for long-term storage, for example, oyster, shii-
take, paddy straw, milky mushroom, etc. In case of button mushroom, it is
the blackening and irreversible change of texture, which often discourages
the use of this otherwise simple technique of preservation. Recently with
advances in drying technologies, various drying methods such as solar dry-
ing, fluidized bed drying, dehumidified air- cabinet drying, osmo-air drying,
freeze-drying cabinet drying and microwave drying are efficiently used for
almost all types of mushrooms. There are many drying methods such as
sun-drying, freeze-drying, cabinet air drying, osmo-air drying, fluidized-bed
drying and microwave drying. Sun-drying is very oldest, cheapest and very
simple method among various drying methods. Under this method mush-
rooms are spread over the trays or sheets and kept in open under the sun
with 25°C temperature, with less than 50% relative humidity and high wind
velocity. Sun dried product contains more than 10–12% moisture and should
therefore be oven dried at 55–60°C for 4–6 h to further reduce the moisture
to 7–8% to avoid any spoilage during storage. Under freeze drying; removal
of water from a substance by sublimation from the frozen state to the vapor
Postharvest Management and Processing Technology of Mushrooms 169
state is known as freeze-drying. The product is frozen at −22°C for one min.
The frozen mushrooms are dried to moisture content of 3% in a freeze drier
and packed under vacuum (Kannaiyan and Ramsamy, 1980).
4.5.5 COOLING
In vacuum cooling, the water in cell walls and inter hyphal spaces
of mushrooms is evaporated under low pressure and the evaporative
170 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
With a view to reduce the weight loss during the conventional vacuum
cooling, ice bank cooling of mushrooms is now in vogue in some countries
wherein a stack of mushrooms is passed through forced draft of chilled but
humidified air from the ice bank.
This method is simple and economical and the mushrooms can be pre-
served for short period by steeping them in solution of salt or acids. The
common practice is that cleaned mushrooms are washed in water or chemi-
cal added water and filled in large plastic containers. Blanching in brine
solution for 5 min is generally done before filling them in cans. Brine solu-
tion is then added into the cans or containers. Steeping of water blanched
mushrooms in 1% potassium meta bisulphite (KMS) along with 2% citric
acid (overnight), before drying improves color, texture and reconstitution
properties. Solution consisting of 2% sodium chloride, 2% citric acid, 2%
sodium bicarbonate and 0.15% KMS is used for steeping preservation of
blanched mushrooms for 8–10 days at 21–28°C. Chemical solution of 2%
salt, 2% sugar, 0.3% citric acid, 0.1% KMS and 1% ascorbic acid is also
used for steeping preservation of mushrooms. It helps to extend shelf life
of mushrooms.
Postharvest Management and Processing Technology of Mushrooms 171
4.5.6 CANNING
Canning is the technique by which the mushrooms can be stored for lon-
ger periods up to a year and most of the international trade in mushrooms
is done in this form. The caning process can be divided into various unit
operations namely cleaning, blanching, filling, sterilization, cooling,
labeling and packaging. In order to produce good quality canned mush-
rooms, these should be processed as soon as possible after the harvest.
In case a delay is inevitable; mushrooms should be stored at 4–5°C till
processed. The mushrooms with a stem length of one cm are preferred and
are canned whole, sliced and stems and pieces as per demand. Well-graded
fresh mushrooms white in color, without dark marks on either caps or
stems are preferred for canning. Whole mushrooms are washed 3–4 times
in cold running water to remove adhering substances. Use of iron free
water with 0.1% citric acid prevents discoloration. Thereafter blanching
is normally done to inhibit polyphenol oxidase enzymes activity and to
inactivate microorganisms. It also removes the gases from the mushroom
172 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
tissue and reduces bacterial counts. The mushrooms are blanched in stain-
less steel kettles filled with a boiling solution of 0.1% citric acid and 1%
common salt. The blanching time ranges from 5–6 min at 95–100°C. The
mushrooms after blanching are filled in sterilized tin cans (A-2½ and A-1
tall can sizes containing approximately 440 and 220 g drained mushroom
weight, respectively). Brine solution (2% salt with 0.1% citric acid or 100
ppm ascorbic acid) is added to the mushroom-filled cans after bringing its
temperature to 90°C. After filling, the cans are exhausted by passing them
in exhaust box for 10–15 min, so that temperature in the center of cans
reaches up to 85°C. Then the cans are sealed hermetically with double
seamer and kept in upside down position. After exhausting of cans, ster-
ilization of cans is needed. Sterilization is the process of heating the cans
up to 118°C to prevent the spoilage by microorganisms during storage.
The cans cooled immediately after sterilization process to stop the over-
cooking and to prevent stack burning. Cooling can be done by placing the
cans in a cold-water tank. Thereafter the clean and dry cans are labeled
manually or mechanically and packed in strong wooden crates or corru-
gated cardboard cartons. The cans are stored in cool and dry place before
dispatching to market. In a hot country like India, where the ambient tem-
perature is high during the several months in a year, basement stores are
useful, especially during the summer months (Figure 4.2).
The oyster mushrooms are harvested and the straw adhered to mush-
room is removed and are packed in polythene bags of less than 100 gauge
thickness with perforations having vent area of about 5%. Though these
perforations cause slight reduction in weight during storage, it helps in
maintaining the freshness and firmness of the produce. Rough handling
should be avoided storage of oyster mushroom at very low temperatures
especially in non-perforated polypacks results in condensation of water
with increased sliminess and softening of the texture. Cooling with posi-
tive ventilation is desirable, for example, cold air should be directed
through the packed produce. For transporting ‘dhingri,’ the fruit bodies are
stacked in trays or baskets. Few polypouches containing crushed ice are
kept along with mushrooms. The tray is then covered with thin polythene
Postharvest Management and Processing Technology of Mushrooms 173
Milky mushroom is the new introduction from India to world and its pro-
duction is catching up fast in different parts of the country during the sum-
mer months and the mushroom has revolutionized the so called off-season
174 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
4.9 TRANSPORTATION
KEYWORDS
•• Mushroom
•• Mushroom packaging
•• Mushroom processing
•• Postharvest quality
•• Postharvest Technology
•• Shelf life and storage
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CHAPTER 5
CONTENTS
Abstract.................................................................................................. 181
5.1 Introduction................................................................................... 181
5.2 Chemical Structure........................................................................ 182
5.3 Biosynthesis.................................................................................. 182
5.4 Translocation................................................................................. 183
5.5 Functions....................................................................................... 184
5.6 Commercial Availability............................................................... 185
5.7 Role of Gibberellins in Improving and
Maintaining Postharvest Quality of Fruit Crops........................... 185
5.7.1 Parthenocarpy.................................................................... 185
5.7.1.1 Apple.................................................................. 185
5.7.1.2 Pear..................................................................... 186
180 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
ABSTRACT
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.3 BIOSYNTHESIS
FIGURE 5.2 (a). GA3 (b). GA4 (c). GA7 (Source; Davies, 2004).
are formed from GA12 through a series of oxidative reactions (Krishna, 2012).
Gibberellin biosynthesis is influenced by light temperature and ratio of bio-
active GA to ABA (abscisic acid) ratio (Taiz and Zeiger, 2006).
It is important to know the biosynthesis of gibberellins to know the
mode of action of growth retardants. High GA content in vegetative tis-
sues interferes with flowering of some of the fruit trees (e.g., Mango).
Growth retardants such as daminozide (Alar), paclobutrazol (Cultar), CCC
(Cycocel), phosphon D block the synthesis of GA’s (Figure 5.3). So, flow-
ering is achieved with reduced intermodal elongation in such trees. Foliar
application (2000 ppm) or soil drenching (10 g/tree) of paclobutrazol can
promote flowering in ‘Alphonso’ mango trees during off year (Rao and
Srihari, 1996).
184 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
5.4 TRANSLOCATION
5.5 FUNCTIONS
5.7.1 PARTHENOCARPY
5.7.1.1 Apple
5.7.1.2 Pear
Pear fruits set parthenocarpically when flowers were sprayed with potas-
sium salt of GA at 50 ppm (Luckwill, 1953). Gill et al. (1972) devel-
oped parthenocarpic fruits in pear cultivar Winter Neils with bloom
application of 200 ppm GA3; 200 and 50 ppm GA4+7. Similarly, Modic
and Turk (1978) obtained parthenocarpic fruits in pear sprayed with 45
ppm GA3 or GA4+7 at full bloom stage. Large fruits of Forell pear fruits
were found parthenocarpic when treated with Progibb at flowering time
(Honeyborne, 1996).
Other temperate fruits
Crane et al. (1960) obtained parthenocarpic fruits in peaches and apricots
with 50 and 500 ppm potassium salt of GA. Constanin and Crane (1961)
reported parthenocarpic fruit set in cherry with application of 1000 ppm GA
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 187
5.7.1.3 Mango
FIGURE 5.4 Seedlessness achieved with different GA3 treatments at bud stage (Source:
Kaur, 2003) [A. GA3 (800 ppm); B. GA3 (1000 ppm); C. GA3 (1200 ppm); D. Control].
Singh (1969) with 250 ppm GA; Singh et al. (1977) with 100 ppm of GA
in Langra mangoes, and Kulkarni & Rameshwari (1978) in Thambva vari-
ety of mango with 200 ppm GA.
5.7.1.4 Guava
5.7.1.5 Citrus
5.7.1.6 Vegetables
Active gibberellins (GA1 or GA3) are able to induce fruit set in several horti-
cultural species and in the model species A. thaliana (Gillaspy et al., 1993).
However, tomato gibberellin induced fruits are smaller than seeded fruits sug-
gesting that other signals are required for tomato fruit growth and development
(de Jong et al., 2009). Increased levels of gibberellin have been detected in pol-
linated ovary together with an increased expression of GA biosynthetic genes
(Serrani et al., 2007). The role of gibberellins in fruit set was also supported by
the analysis of the parthenocarpic tomato mutans pat, pat2 and pat3/4. These
mutants show increased level of GA’s and an enhanced expression of GA bio-
synthetic genes (Fos et al., 2000; Olimpieri et al., 2007). Auxin and gibberellin
may act in parallel or in a sequential way on fruit set. A synergistic effect of
auxin and gibberellin on fruit growth has been observed in pea and tomato sug-
gesting that the two phytohormones interact in regulating fruit development
(Ozga, 1999). Data recently obtained in A. thaliana and in tomato suggest a
hierarchical scheme of interaction where GA acts downstream of auxin. In
tomato, auxin-induced fruit initiation is mediated by GAs and in ovaries treated
with auxins GA biosynthetic genes are induced (shown in Figure 5.5 and 5.6)
(Serrani et al., 2007). Similar results were obtained in A. thaliana where fer-
tilization triggers an increase in auxin response in the ovules and the activa-
tion of GA synthesis. The depletion of SlDELLA proteins which are negative
190 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
FIGURE 5.5 Effect of different doses of 2,4-D and GA3 on the size of the fruit of tomato
(Serrani et al., 2007).
FIGURE 5.6 Cross section of tomato fruit treated with GA3, 2,4-D and the combination
(Source: Serrani et al., 2007).
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 191
Pramanik and Bose (1974) studied the effect of varying doses of GA3
and NOXA on fruit drop of ber cv. Banarasi Karaka and concluded that
both GA3 and NOXA 10 ppm decreased the fruit drop considerably.
GA3–60 ppm accounted for the lowest fruit drop and highest fruit set in
Umran Ber (Singh and Randhawa 2001). Ram et al. (2005) implicated that
application of GA3–15 and 25 ppm decreased the fruit drop and improved
the fruit retention in ber cv. Banarasi Karaka.
192 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Dhillon and Singh (1968) reported that 75 ppm GA3 increased the fruit
diameter significantly in Dandan variety of ber as compared to control.
Patil and Patil (1979) concluded that CCC 250 ppm reduced the size
of fruit in ber. They further reported that application of 10 ppm NAA
and 10 ppm GA3 increased the fruit size. The results were again con-
firmed by Patil (1981). Pandey (1999) reported that the application of
NAA 20 ppm and GA3–15 ppm resulted in increased fruit size (length x
breadth) in ber cv. Banarasi Karaka. Kale et al. (2000) studied the effect
of plant growth regulators on fruit characters of ber and reported that the
fruit size increased appreciably with GA3–20 ppm. Gibberellic acid (Pro-
Gibb 4%) applied 3 weeks beforeharvest delayed maturity from 3 to 7 days
in cherries (Willemsen, 2000) and gave larger fruit with storage life. They
further reported that the lightly cropped trees required lower doses of GA3.
Banker and Prasad (1990) reported that fruit weight in ber cv. Gola was
significantly increased by application of GA3 (30 ppm) and NAA (30 ppm).
Pandey (1999) reported that GA3–15 ppm and NAA 10, 15 or 20 ppm
increased the fruit weight in Banarasi Karaka cultivar of ber. Seven year old
Umran ber trees were sprayed with gibberellic acid (GA3) and NAA (10 and
20 ppm) alone and in combination up to 60 days after full bloom by Kale et
al. (2000). The fruit weight was found significantly improved by higher con-
centration of GA3 and NAA. However, the combination of GA3 and NAA
were not much effective. In Peach cvs. Springtime and Early Red, Engin et
al. (2007) reported that application of GA3 coupled with irrigation at final
swell of the fruits resulted in increase in fruit weight as compared to control.
Dhillon et al. (1982) observed a progressive decrease in loss in weight
of Flordasum peach with the increase in Gibberellin, concentration.
peaches showed the minimum loss in weight, less than 1000 ppm GA3.
However the loss in weight in Sharbati peach was not affected with the
increasing concentration of GA3. Parmar and Chundawat (1988) indicated
significant variability in cumulative physiological weight loss during
storage under various treatments in mango cv. Kesar. Kinetin (75 ppm)
in combination with bavistin (1000 ppm) and GA3 (150 ppm) recorded
significantly low percentage of physiological weight loss (PLW). Sindhu
and Singhrot (1993) reported minimum PLW in lemon cv. Baramasi
when treated with GA3 (200 ppm) as pre-harvest application. Bhanja and
Lenka (1994) found that combined pre-harvest spray with calcium chlo-
ride, calcium nitrate and GA3 one month before harvesting on sapota fruits
and postharvest dip in GA3 @100 ppm revealed reduced PLW. Sudhavani
and Shankar (2002) concluded that physiological loss in weight was
reduced in GA3 treated mango cv. ‘Baneshan’ fruits. It has also been
reported for other fruits like Nagpur mandarin, Clementine mandarin and
Washington Navel Oranges (El-Otmani and Coggins, 1991; Ladaniya,
1997), and banana (Osman and Abu-Goukh, 2008). The reduced loss in
weight in GA3 treated fruits could be attributed to their increased affinity
to water. For that reason fruit retain more water against the force of evapo-
transpiration, resulting in lesser weight loss during storage. Other contrib-
uting factors might be changes in some of the proteinaceous constituents
of cell (Yadav and Shukla, 2009), as well as inhibition of respiration.
Rani and Brahmachari (2004) reported that mango cv. Amarpalli when
sprayed with GA3–200 ppm produced fruits with the greatest volume.
Masalkar and Wavhal (1991) studied the influence of GA3, NAA, chlor-
mequat and ethephon, alone and in various combinations on fruit volume
in ber. The highest fruit volume was obtained with GA3–10 and 20 ppm.
Pandey (1999) conducted trials on ber cv. Banarasi Karaka, by spraying
with NAA 5, 10, 15 and 20 ppm and GA3–5, 10 and 15 ppm at the pea-
stage. The GA3–15 ppm and NAA 10, 15 and 20 ppm increased the fruit
volume significantly as compared to control.
Ranjan et al. (2005) reported that the postharvest application of calcium
salts and GA3 during storage resulted in the gradual reduction in specific
gravity of Langra mango although the effect of treatments was marginal.
194 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Color retainment of ber fruit can be achieved by dipping in GA3 (60 ppm)
and calcium chloride (2.0%) for 5 minutes up to 20 days of storage
(Jawanda and Randhawa 2008). Balasubramaniam and Agnew (1990)
investigated the effect of gibberellic acid sprays on quality of cherry and
reported that GA3 reduced average skin color. The cv. Rainier of cherry did
not develop the pink blush, but turned a medium straw color.
In peach cv. Rubiduox, the effects of pre-harvest spraying of gibberel-
lic acid (GA3) and aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) were investigated by
Amarante et al. (2005). They found that the treatment with GA3 (100 mg/L)
and AVG (75 and 150 mg/L) resulted in better retention of skin background
color. In addition, GA3 reduced the number of fruits with skin splitting and
decay and reduced the incidence of flesh browning after cold storage.
Sankhla et al. (2006b) conducted a study to gain an insight into the effect
of CEPA, 1-MCP and gibberellic acid (GA3) on postharvest ripening, qual-
ity and shelf life of ber fruits. They implicated that application of GA3
delayed decrease in fruit firmness towards ripening. In combination, GA3
and 1-MCP exhibited additive effects on fruit firmness. Ozkaya et al.
(2006) opined that the application of GA3–10 ppm decreased the loss of
fruit firmness and maintained the surface brightness in sweet cherry. The
preharvest spray of 50 ppm GA3 with postharvest dipping of calcium chlo-
ride along with bavistin recorded maximum firmness in sapota cv. PKM-1
(Sudha et al., 2006). Sudha et al. (2007) reported that preharvest applica-
tion of potassium chloride (1%) sapota cv. PKM-1 recorded least firmness
(2.7 kg/cm2) as compared to GA3 (3.45 kg/cm2) treatment.
Kappel and MacDonald (2007) reported that a single spray of 20 ppm
GA3 at the straw-yellow stage of fruit development of ‘Sweetheart’ sweet
cherry increased the fruit firmness by 15 per cent. The attractiveness of
fruit surface responded linearly to the GA3 applications. Randhawa et al.
(1980) reported that the firmness of the pear fruits decreased during stor-
age, but this decrease was minimum under 100 ppm GA3, followed by the
50 ppm GA3 treated fruits. Rathore et al. (2009) Mango fruits CV. Chausa
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 195
treated with GA3 showed uniform texture and maximum firmness of fruits
after 19 days of storage.
Delay in softening by GA3 during on tree-storage of grapefruit and
tight skin oranges is reported by Ferguson et al. (1982). It has an antago-
nistic effect on the biosynthesis of endogenous ethylene, the compound
that at threshold level triggers the ripening process in climacteric fruits
(Burg and Burg, 1962; Ben-Arie et al., 1996; Ben-Arie et al., 1986). The
mechanism of delaying softening and other degradative changes due to
GA3 application is also supported by Lewis et al. (1967) in the studies on
Navel Orange peel involving calcium metabolism in cell wall and vegeta-
tive tissue, sites responsive to GA3’s effects (Jona et al., 1989; Ben-Arie
et al., 1996). Because cellulose micro fibrils provide the structure and sup-
port for all the components of plant cell walls (Greve and Labavitch, 1991;
Carpita and Gibeaut, 1993), the increase in cellulose would increase fruit
firmness. Ben-Arie et al. (1996) suggested that the greater firmness of GA3
treated fruit accounts for the 37% higher cellulose content in the cell walls
of the treated fruit. Both factors, such as cellulose synthesis and hydrolytic
activity, probably affect fruit firmness as determined by GA3 treatment.
Hassan et al. (2005) applied boron, GA3 and active dry yeast at different
concentrations alone or in their combinations on ‘Canino’ apricot trees.
The results showed that combined application of boric acid 400 ppm,
GA3–40 ppm and active dry yeast 2% at full bloom stage caused a remarked
promotion of fruit yield. Webster et al. (2006) reported that the yield of
sweet cherry could be improved by foliar sprays of gibberellic acid (GA3)
or aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) applied post blossoming stage.
5.7.11 TSS
In Gola cv. of ber, Bankar and Parsad (1990) found that TSS was apprecia-
bly influenced by application of GA3 but not by NAA. Kale et al. (2000)
studied the effect of plant growth regulators on quality of ber and reported
the application of GA3–20 ppm was the most effective in inducing high-
est increase in total soluble solids as compared with other treatments.
196 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
the least increase of acidity. Benjawan et al. (2006) reported that applica-
tion of GA3 increased the acidity of the fruits of Kaew mango cv. Srisaket.
Shrivastava and Jain (2006) reported that the acidity in mango cv. Langra
decreased with foliar applications of urea and GA3. The minimum acid-
ity was observed with urea 2% and GA3–100 ppm (0.229%) whereas, the
unsprayed control trees had maximum acidity (0.289%).
Kotecha et al. (1993) reported that total sugar content in banana fruits
treated with either GA3 or Kinetin increased progressively through the rip-
ening, but had significantly lower values of total sugars than control.
5.7.13 SUGARS
Masalkar and Wavhal (1991) sprayed ber trees with GA3 (10 and 20 ppm),
NAA (10 and 20 ppm), chlormequat (250 ppm) and ethephon (400 ppm),
alone and in various combinations. The maximum increase in non-reducing
sugars was obtained with application of GA3 alone. Kale et al. (1999 and
2000) reported that reducing sugar and total sugars of Umran ber increased
with GA3 and NAA 10 and 20 ppm alone. The combination of GA3 and
NAA were not much effective. Kumar and Singh (1993) found that the pre-
harvest sprays of GA3 (50 or 75 ppm) or ethephon 500 ppm on mango
cv. Amarpalli significantly improved the total sugar content of the fruits.
In Flordasun cv. of peach, Babu and Yadav (2004) compared efficacy of
various thinning agents and found that the application of GA3–100 ppm as
thinning agent resulted in maximum total sugars (6.15%). The application of
GA3–20 ppm produced Amrapalli mango fruits with maximum total sugars
(16.77%) and reducing sugars (7.00%) in the studies of Sarkar and Ghosh
(2005). Shrivastava and Jain (2006) found that application of GA3–100 ppm
to mango cv. Langra produced the maximum reducing (12.24%) and total
sugars (17.90%). Singh (1988) observed that in both cultivars Zardalu and
Langra of mango reducing sugar of the fruits increased gradually in all the
treatments as the storage period advanced. Treatment with 2000 ppm captan
followed by wrapped in perforated polyethylene bag effectively increased
and maintained maximum reducing sugar (3.74%) in Zardalu cultivar
whereas 50 ppm GA3 in combination with perforated polyethylene bags
effectively increased and maintained maximum (3.31%) reducing sugar
198 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Dhillon and Singh (1968) found that GA3 (25 and 75 ppm) and 2,4,5-T (5
and 15 ppm) increased the ascorbic acid content in Dandan cultivar of ber.
In Kaithali cultivar both GA3 and 2,4,5-T were equally effective. Wavhal
(1991) applied chemicals like GA3 (10 and 20 ppm), NAA (10 and 20 ppm),
Chlormequat (250 ppm) and ethephon (400 ppm) alone and in various com-
binations. The highest ascorbic acid content was obtained with GA3 alone.
Pandey (1999) concluded that the application of NAA 20 ppm and GA3–15 ppm
resulted in enhancing the ascorbic acid content of ber cv. Banarasi Karaka.
Jiang et al. (2004) studied the role of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and
GA3 in fruit ripening of Chinese jujube during storage in relation to quality.
The treatment with 1-MCP or GA3 delayed the decrease in vitamin C content
of fruits. Kumar and Singh (1993) found that the pre-harvest sprays of GA3
(50 or 75 ppm) or ethephon 500 ppm on mango cv. Amarpalli significantly
improved the ascorbic acid content of fruits. Babu and Yadav (2004) impli-
cated that in Flordasun cv. of peach, the application of GA3–100 ppm as thin-
ning agent resulted in maximum vitamin C content in fruits (212.30 mg/100
g). Singh (1988) observed that the ascorbic acid content of fruits decreased
gradually in both Zardalu and Langra mango fruits during storage under all
the treatments. Treatment with 50 ppm GA3 and kept in perforated polyethyl-
ene was found most effective in minimizing the loss of ascorbic acid in both
the cultivars, for example, Zardalu and Langra. Singh (1996) also recorded
similar results in case of mango fruits under storage.
FIGURE 5.7 Pre-harvest application of GA3 on Peach (cv. Shan-I-Punjab) fruits stored at
0–1°C and 90–95% RH after 35 days of storage (Source: Kaur, 2012).
200 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
5.7.16 SPOILAGE
Kumar and Singh (1993) studied the effect of GA3 and ethrel on quality of
mango cv. Amrapali and they found that pre-harvest spray of GA3 (50 and
75 ppm) or ethrel (500 ppm) significantly improved carotene concentra-
tion in fruit.
pathway (Kefeli et al., 2003). Phenols help in determining color and fla-
vor (especially astringent flavor) in most of the fruits (Van Buren, 1970).
Aly and Ismail (2000) reported that the pre-harvest treatment of ‘Balady’
guava with GA3 (150 ppm) decreased fruit skin browning and polyphenol
oxidase activity compared with control and boron treated fruits.
GA3 decreased flower oil content compared to the control and also showed
the shortest flowering period among treatments (Saffari et al., 2004).
Senescence is one of the most puzzling events in plant life. From
seed germination to maturation, the plant undergoes several changes.
Senescence shows accumulation of hazardous substance. Growth pro-
moters delay the deteriorative process as well as accumulation of hazard-
ous substance. Studies were carried out to determine the effect of plant
growth regulators like gibberellic acid (GA3) at 10, 20, 50 and 100 ppm,
on abscission and senescence of leaves of (Rosa indica) and (Rosa chi-
nensis) (Sharma and Tomar, 2008). Bio-chemical contents of leaf viz.
chlorophyll-α, chlorophyll-β, reducing and non-reducing sugar and protein
reduced during the course of development. Exogenous application of GA3
reduced the reduction of this content in attached and deattached condition
while Abscisic Acid (ABA) and Etheophon (ETH) enhance the reduction.
Perhaps, GA3 delay the production of hydrolytic enzyme, where as ABA
and ETH not only promote the production of hydrolytic enzyme but also
reduced the production of growth promoter (Sharma and Tomar, 2009).
Pre-harvest spraying of plants with gibberellic acid at a concentration of
100 mg x dm–3 has a positive effect on the content of photosynthetically
active pigments in the leaves of A. europaeum cultivated in an unheated
plastic tunnel (Pogroszewska et al., 2014). Exogenously applied GA3
accumulate endogenous gibberellic acid which stimulates the production
pigments. The growth of chlorophyll content is influenced by the phyto-
hormone during the transformation of etioplasts into chloroplasts on the
(Ouzounidou and Illias, 2005). Gibberellic acid also inhibits degradation
of the discussed pigments by controlling the process of starch and sucrose
hydrolysis into fructose and glucose, which indirectly affects the content of
chlorophyll a and b in leaves (Emongor, 2004). GA3 stimulates the vegeta-
tive growth, as mentioned previously and hence high accumulation rate
of metabolic components especially carbohydrates such as chlorophyll
and carotene. Gibberellin reduce the occurrence of leaf chlorosis all three
cultivars (Table 5.1). Although both GA3 and GA4+7 prevents leaf yellow-
ing, at a given concentration (100 ppm), GA4+7 was more effective than
GA3 in lilies of cold-stored stems and non- cold-stored stems (Ranwala and
206 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Miller, 2002). GA3 at 100 ppm recorded the highest total chlorophyll con-
tent (1.826 mg g–1) in case of cut rose cv. ‘First Red’ (Kumar et al., 2012).
The reduction rates of anthocyanin contents were alleviated by GA
treated tulip flowers (Mohammadi et al., 2012). GA3 application at a
concentration of 600 mg per dm3 led to the accumulation of the greatest
amount of anthocyanins in the leaves of A. europaeum cultivated both in
an unheated plastic tunnel and in the field (Pogroszewska et al., 2014).
There will be an increase in the content of anthocyanin pigments after
treatment of plants with gibberellic acid. The phenomenon behind this is
the effect that gibberellins had on the synthesis of phenylalanine ammonia
lyase (PAL) and tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL), the key enzymes of fla-
vonoid and anthocyanin synthesis. Phenylalanine ammonialyase catalyzes
spontaneous, non- oxidative deamination of L-phenylalanine to trans-
cinnamic acid which, in the process of further metabolic changes, can be
transformed into flavonoids (Kwack et al., 1997). After foliar application
of GA3 solutions, an increased amount of anthocyanins was also found in
the leaves of Hibiscus sabdariffa (Rafia et al., 2005) and Ajuga reptans
(Kwack et al., 1997).
Improved anthocyanin (1.72 mg/g) and total carotenoid (4.25 mg/g)
content was observed in pre-soaking and foliar spray of gibberellic
acid 100 ppm in case of tuberose cv. Jessica (Kumar and Gupta, 2014).
Enhanced pigmentation in petal might be due to higher concentration of
pelargonidin (Davies et al., 1993). The induction of anthocyanin synthesis
requires the presence of sugar in the medium and sugars may serve as
specific signals for the activation of specific genes, as cellular osmotic
regulators, or as general energy source of carbon metabolism in the devel-
oping flower (Delila et al., 1997). Gibberellic acid application at 100 ppm
recorded the maximum anthocyanin content findings are in agreement
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 207
In celebration Rose, GA3 sprayed at 200 ppm accelerated the stem length
(Maharana and Pani, 1982). Foliar applications of GA3–200 ppm twice
(20 and 30 days after pruning) on ‘Queen Elizabeth’ cut roses increased
length of the internode and shoot (Nagarajaiah and Reddy, 1986). Spraying
with gibersol (GA3) every two weeks throughout the season increased
length of flower stalk when flowers were harvested either continuously or
in the autumn (Wisniewska and Treder, 1989).
GA3 sprayed @ 100 and 200 ppm concentration of each on Rosa hyb-
rida cv. Super Star three weeks after pruning increased stalk length BA
(Anon, 1993). Foliar spray of GA3 @ 50 to 500 ppm in field increased
plant growth in Gladiolus (Bhattacharjee, 1984). In the rose cv. Super
Star shoot length was maximum (37.71 cm) when compared to con-
trol (25.25) by applying GA at 45 ppm, Goyal and Gupta (1994). Patel
and Patil (1998) reported that application of 300 ppm GA increases
the length of cut flower stalk in rose. Arun et al. (2000) observed that
208 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
rose cut flower stalk length was greatest by applying GA3 (300 ppm).
Maximum increase in stem length (55.22 cm) compared to control
(32.79 cm) was found in rose cv. Queen Elizabeth by spraying GA (250
ppm) (Banker and Mukhopadhya, 1982). The effect of gibberellic acid
at 100 ppm showed improved plant heights (70.50 cm) as compared to
untreated ones (62.33 cm) in carnation cv. Improved Margherite (Jana
and Jahangir, 1987). Application of GA3 twice in carnation significantly
increased plant height (65.94 cm) and stem length (58.25 cm) (Verma et
al., 2000). Maximum stalk length (74.60 cm) was produced in rose cv.
First Red by applying GA3 at 300 ppm, whereas; control recorded least
(45.92 cm) (Dhekney et al., 2000). Highest flower stalk length (57.60
cm) was recorded by application of GA3 (200 ppm) along with water-
soluble fertilizer @ 75% in chinaster (Kore et al., 2003). Application of
200 ppm of GA3 in carnation significantly increased plant height (88.24
cm) (Ramesh and Singh, 2003).
bud circumference and flower diameter. Verma et al. (2000) stated that
applying Nitrogen (500 ppm) and GA3 (50 ppm) per week were found
to be effective in increasing the flower diameter and flower length in
carnation. Chakradhar (2002) reported that the flower quality attributes
such as length and diameter of flower bud, number of petals per flower,
flower longevity and weight of flower improved with the application
of GA3–60 ppm in rose cv. Gladiator. Chakradhar et al. (2003) reported
that flower bud length and diameter were maximum with application of
GA3 at 60 ppm and minimum with BA at 100 ppm in rose cv. Gladiator.
Significantly maximum flower diameter (7.09 cm) was recorded at GA3–
100 ppm in China aster as compared to control (4.87 cm) (Kore et al.,
2003). Increase in flower diameter was observed by GA3 (100 ppm) in
case of cut rose cv. ‘First Red’ (Kumar et al., 2012). Similar increase in
flower diameter was obtained by Baskaran and Misra (2007) in gladiolus
and Sainath (2009) in chrysanthemum. GA3 seems to affect the flower
diameter by forming sink in a position where it accumulates and draws
the available photosynthates to this site.
The petal development in Gerbera hybrida, the petal size is mainly
determined by cell expansion, and not by cell division (Zhang et al., 2012).
GA and ABA have antagonistic effects on petal growth by modulation of
cell elongation at the basal region and petal/cell elongation is enhanced
by GA but repressed by ABA when each phytohormone is applied alone
(Figures 5.8 and 5.9). The increase in petal length by GA and the reduction
in petal length by ABA are attenuated by the co-application of ABA and
GA, respectively (Figure 5.10; Li et al., 2015).
The GA has been reported to increase the neck length in cut roses
(Figure 5.11). The length of the pedicle (neck) was increased mark-
edly by GA values than untreated plants (Nanjan and Muthuswamy,
1975). Banker and Mukhopadhya (1982) reported that applying GA at
250 ppm produced maximum neck length (14.93 cm) compared to con-
trol (9.00 cm) in rose cv. Queen Elizabeth. Maximum flower neck length
(9.073 cm) was produced in rose cv. First Red by application of 300 ppm
GA3 (Dhekney et al., 2000).
210 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
FIGURE 5.8 Gerbera flower treated with Gibberellins and ABA (Source: Li et al., 2015).
FIGURE 5.9 Petal cell elongation from different regions (Source: Li et al., 2015).
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 211
FIGURE 5.10 Graphical illustration showing the influence of GA3, ABA and (GA3 +
ABA) on length of the ray petal (Source: Li et al., 2015).
FIGURE 5.11 GA3 treated roses in vase solution (Source: Rajesh, 2012).
212 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Obtaining higher yield with enhanced quality is the final objective of any
crop regulation practice. Increased yield with high quality finally contrib-
utes to the net returns. When flower crops are grown under protected con-
ditions, increased yield per plant and improved quality are very critical to
justify the cultivation of the crop under protected condition since a great
amount of investment is involved in this type of cultivation. The number
of flowers per plant is the major yield-contributing factor in cut flowers.
GA @ 200 ppm recorded maximum yield (205 flowers) in Edward
rose compared to control (168 flowers) (Nanjan and Muthuswamy, 1975).
El-Shafie et al. (1980) obtained highest number of flowers with GA3 at
250 ppm in Queen Elizabeth and Baccara rose varieties. Application of
GA3 (10–100 ppm) twice after pruning in ‘Queen Elizabeth’ rose cul-
tivar increased number of flowers (Bankar and Mukhopadhyay, 1982).
In ‘Celebration’ rose, GA3 spray (200 ppm) advanced flowering and
accelerated stem (Maharana and Pani, 1982). Foliar spray of GA3 at
50 to 500 ppm in field grown ‘Raktgandha’ roses increased number of
flowers per plant and petals per flower (Bhattacharjee and Singh, 1983).
Gowda (1985) enhanced the flower yield in rose cv. Super Star with the
foliar spray of GA at 200 ppm. Nagarajaiah and Reddy (1986) obtained
similar results in rose cv. Queen Elizabeth with GA3 at 10 to 100 ppm
applied twice after pruning. Dhekney et al. (2000) reported that apply-
ing GA3 at 200 ppm produced maximum number of flowers (38.610)
per m² compared to control (18.22). Kewte (1991) obtained highest
number of flowers per plant with GA at 300 and 200 ppm (28.75 and
25.25, respectively) compared to control (14.50) in rose cv. Paradise.
Goyal and Gupta (1996) recorded 19.50 flowers per plant with GA at
30 ppm compared to 16.00 flowers per plant with control in Rose cv.
Super Star. Kewte and Sable (1997) recorded highest number of A and
B grade cut flowers from plants treated with GA3 at 300 ppm com-
pared with control in rose cv. Paradise. Gowda (1988) reported that the
numbers of marketable flowers were increased in rose cv. American
Heritage with GA3 at 300 and 350 ppm. Sadanand et al. (2000) recorded
more number of flowers per meter square with GA3 @ 200 ppm as
compared with other treatments in rose cv. First Red. Arun et al. (2000)
reported that applying GA3 at 200 ppm recorded more number of flowers/
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 213
m² in rose cv. First Red. Rosa hybrida cv. Sntrix plants grown under
greenhouse conditions were sprayed with 250 ppm gibberellic acid
(GA3) alone or combined with foliar fertilizer Sangral. The highest val-
ues of vegetative and flowering parameters were obtained with spraying
the plants with 0.40% foliar fertilizer and 250 ppm GA3. Moreover, the
total carbohydrate and mineral contents in the leaves were increased as
a result of spraying the plants with GA3 and foliar fertilizer (Al-Humaid,
2001). The number of flowers and yield (67.33, 192.59 g) per plant per
m² per annum were highest with GA @ 200 ppm while lowest with con-
trol (26.00 flowers and 76.8 g yield of flowers) in China aster cv. Kamini
(Kumar et al., 2003). Maximum yield (49.60 q ha–1) was recorded by
application of GA3 (200 ppm) along with water-soluble fertilizer in
China aster (Kore et al., 2003). Increase in yield of the flowers is due
to the effect of GA3 on increase in the internodal length (Roberts et al.,
1999) in Roses. But there was a decrease in yield with higher concentra-
tions of GA3 (300 ppm) up to 11–20% reported in ‘Raktagandha’ rose by
Bhattacharjee and Singh (1995) and reduced yield was also observed in
cut rose ‘Poison.’
Application of 0, 10, 25 and 50 mg l-1 GA3 on Aquilegia × hybrida
showed that the most yield was obtained in 10 mg l-1 GA3, while 50 mg
l-1 GA3 caused to diminishing of cut flowers (Barzegarfallah, 2006).
Also, showed that 300 mg l-1 GA3 decreased yield of rose ‘Raktagandha’
to 11–20%. In current study, 300 mg l-1 GA3 reduced yield of cut rose
‘Poison.’
(1995) reported that flowers kept in distilled water with GA showed high
chlorophyll contents (Rosa hybrida L. cv. Red Sandra). Foliar application
of GA3 (300 ppm) on the rose cv. Paradise gave highest number of A and
B grade cut flowers and longest vase life (Kewte and Sable, 1997).
An investigation was carried out on “Eiffel Tower” cut roses to deter-
mine the most effective growth regulating chemical and its concentration
in the holding solution for improving postharvest life and quality. GA
showed beneficial effects on vase life, flower diameter, water uptake and
fresh weight. Among the chemicals, GA3 (150 ppm) was effective in terms
of effectiveness in increasing postharvest life (Bhattacharjee, 2000).
The longevity of harvested rose (Rosa hybrida) flowers of cv.
Mercedes, has been promoted by application of GA3. The leakage of
electrolytes from the GA treated petals of was lower in comparison
with untreated ones (Agbaria et al., 2001). Chakradhar (2002) recorded
that maximum vase life of cut flowers (8.90 days) was recorded with
GA3 (60 ppm) compared to other treatments in rose cv. Gladiator. GA3
treated petal discs of ‘Febesa’ roses could increase the activity of cell
wall bound and vacuolar invertase (Horibe et al., 2010). Pulsing with a
solution of sucrose at lower concentrations along with GA3 (10 mg/L)
was promising in increasing vase life of cut roses ‘Red One’ (Gholami
et al., 2011).
Gibberellic acid delayed the flower senescence in gerbera cut flow-
ers and postponed bent neck disorder in gerbera cut flowers by supplying
respirable substrates, especially in petals, thus promoting respiration and
extending the vase life of gerbera flowers. It has been reported that the
main effect of applied sugar in extending cut flower vase life was to main-
tain mitochondrial structure and functions. However, the effect of sugars
on mitochondria may not be a specific effect and may stem from its gen-
eral protective effect on membrane integrity (Emongor, 2004). GA signal-
ing is crucial to petal growth. As a versatile regulator, abscisic acid (ABA)
has been shown to act antagonistically to the function of GA in a variety
of developmental processes, including florral transition. Li et al. (2015),
applied RNA sequencing technique and established that GA and ABA act
antagonistically in the petal growth of gerbera. The possible reasons they
suggested are that both GA and ABA target the same genes thus biosynthe-
sis or signaling pathways were affected.
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 215
GA3 at 100 ppm recorded the maximum vase life of 2.6 days in cut
rose cv. First Red in distilled water. An increase in vase life of cut roses
due to spray of GA3 may be attributed to the fact that retardation of senes-
cence by GA3 is associated with the maintenance of a higher level of RNA
in petals and leaves (Goszczynska and Rudnicki, 1988). Similar findings
of increase in the vase life of flowers with GA3 application was reported
by Delvadia et al. (2009) in gaillardia, Kazaz and Karaguzel (2010) in
golden rod, cut flowers of anthurium cv. Xavia by 15 days (Sahare and
Singh, 2015) and Rao (2010) in chrysanthemum. Spraying cut flowers of
Anemone coronaria with GA3 (50 ppm) a day beforeharvest or spraying
cut flowers with 50 ppm GA3 after harvest extended vase life 8 days and
had better preservation of cut flower quality (Sharifani et al., 2005). The
GA3 application pre-harvest significantly increased vase life of Solidago
inflorescence in comparison with the control and the peak at 100 ppm
GA3 (11 days) then declined at higher concentration and the longest vase
life was observed (12 days) by combination GA3 at 100 ppm (Osman,
A.R. and Sewedan, 2014). Improving the postharvest quality of Solidago
inflorescence by using GA3 could be explained through the role of GA3
Improving water balance, fresh weight (EL-Saka et al., 2002) and hence
high accumulation of carbohydrates in stem and leaves which conse-
quently increased the vase life (Hassan et al., 2003).
Longevity of the cut-flowers of tuberose cv. Jessica was significantly
increased by pre-soaking and foliar spray of gibberellic acid 100 ppm
(16.70 days) over control (12.28 days) (Kumar and Gupta, 2014). Saeed
et al. (2014) concluded that gibberellic acid applied at lower concentra-
tions renders greater beneficial effects on vase life quality, membrane
stability and antioxidant activities in gladiolus cut spike and higher
application rates cause no improvement in the flower longevity. Bharathi
and Kumar (2009) reported the similar findings for prolonging vase life
of cut tuberose spikes and Umrao et al. (2007) for spike durability in
gladiolus. Thus, Waters (1966) indicated that gladiolus longevity and
other quality can be measured as and the effect of gibberellic acid on
senescence as well as extended vase life and delayed senescence may
result from direct effect of gibberellic acid on cell senescence associ-
ated process which may prevent membrane permeability and subsequent
leakage of electrolytes.
216 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
TABLE 5.3 Effect of GA3 on the Bent of Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii cv. Ida Red) Stems
GA3 concentration (ppm) No. of stems with bent neck after
7 days 14 days
0.0 3.25 6.00
2.5 1.00 4.25
5.0 2.00 3.25
7.5 1.50 3.00
Source: Emongor (2004).
218 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
FIGURE 5.12 Effect of time between GAs application and the inoculation with conidia
suspension on the development of Botrytis blight in harvested flowers of rose cv. Mercedes.
The extent of the disease was evaluated six days after inoculation (Source: Shaul et al.
(1995) a: Control; b: GA3 Treated flowers).
Gibberellins: The Roles in Pre- and Postharvest Quality 219
KEYWORDS
•• Gibberellic acid
•• Postharvest quality
•• Postharvest shelf life
•• Preharvest spray
•• Senescence regulation
•• Storage and packaging
•• Vase life
220 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
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CHAPTER 6
ADVANCES IN PACKAGING OF
FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
ALEMWATI PONGENER1 and B. V. C. MAHAJAN2
1
ICAR-National Research Centre on Litchi, Mushahari, Muzaffarpur,
842002, Bihar, India, E-mail: [email protected]
2
Punjab Horticultural Postharvest Technology Centre, PAU,
Ludhiana, 141004, Punjab, India
CONTENTS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
or packages in a wrapped pouch, bag, box, cup, tray, can, tube, bottle, or
other container form to perform one or more of the following functions: con-
tainment, protection, preservation, communication, utility and performance
(Siddiqui, 2015). Therefore, packaging not only contains and protects dur-
ing handling, storage, transportation, and distribution, but also serves as a
symbol of value-addition and assurance of quality. It is also an important
tool for marketing fresh produce as it provides for ease of handling and
counted containers of uniform size. Standard-size packages reduce the need
for repeated weighing. Several types of package are commonly used in the
fresh produce industry, and include packages fabricated from paper and
paper products (compressed cardboard, corrugated cardboard or fiberboard),
wood and wood products, and plastics. The choice of each type depends on
the utility, capacity to enhance value to produce, and cost factor.
Wooden crates and boxes have been the traditional mode of packaging. The
history of modern packaging dates back to the mid-19th century with the
concept of transforming flimsy sheets of paper into a rigid, stackable, and
cushioning form of packaging. These were used for packaging of delicate
goods such as bottles and glass lamp chimneys. First patents for making
corrugated paper were granted in England in 1856. More than a decade later
in 1871, patents were granted to Albert Jones in the USA for single-phase
corrugated board. In 1874, Oliver Lang invented the corrugated board with
liner sheet on both sides. Invention of corrugated box in 1890 is credited to
the Scottish born Robert Gair. By the advent of the 20th century corrugated
boxes began to replace wooden crates and boxes. Initially limited to pack-
aging fragile goods like glass and pottery items, the corrugated boxes found
extensive usage in enabling fruit and produce to be brought from farm to
retail without bruise or damage. The introduction of corrugated boxes dra-
matically improved returns to the producers and opened up export markets.
6.3.3 CONVENIENCE
the present era of increasing inter-dependence among nations for food and
services. Over the years, modernization and industrialization have resulted
in ever-increasing single-person-households and percentage of women in
the workforce. This has resulted in drastic lifestyle changes with increas-
ing demand for convenience food, which includes pre-prepared foods,
fresh-cut, and minimally processed fruits and vegetables.
6.3.4 COMMUNICATION
due to the cost involved, plastic crates are used for distribution in the
local market. Plastic crates also offer the benefit of return to the owner
after delivery. For transportation to distant markets cheaper disposable
packages are preferred. If selected after careful and proper consideration
fiberboard boxes measures up to most of these requirements. Polymers or
plastics exhibit many desirable features like transparency, softness, heat-
seal ability, and good strength to weight ratio with high tear and tensile
strength. Efficient mechanical properties, good barrier to oxygen, and low
cost make up the reasons for the extensive use of polymers for packaging.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are very important components of human diet.
They are rich sources of essential nutrients and vitamins, compounds that
cannot be synthesized by the human body. Fresh produce has always been
known and marketed as healthy. Consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables
modifies the risk of many non-communicable diseases including cancer,
stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and coronary heart disease (WHO,
2004). Maintaining freshness or harvest quality of produce has been one
of the biggest challenges in the agri-food sector. An important event in the
life of horticultural produce is the time of harvesting. Harvesting detaches
the fruit or vegetable from the parent plant, and removes it from its source
of food, water, and nutrients. Therefore, harvested produce has to rely on
internal reserves to continue aerobic respiration, active metabolism, and
maintain cellular integrity. In other words, fruits and vegetables are perish-
able. The rate of deterioration of any harvested produce is determined by
how efficiently the internal reserves are used up. The quality of fruits and
vegetables is determined by factors such as color, size, taste, flavor, texture
etc. Quality is said to have deteriorated when one or more of these factors
are said to be below the desirable level. Consumers want produce to be
fresh, typified by the quality at harvest. Packaging plays an important role
in protecting the fresh produce and delaying the process of deterioration.
Individual fruits and vegetables differ in rate of respiratory metabolism
(Table 6.1), transpiration or water loss, response to ethylene (Table 6.2),
and storage environment (Tables 6.3 and 6.4). It is, therefore, important to
understand the factors that determine the rate of produce deterioration.
Advances in Packaging of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables 237
TABLE 6.2 Classification of Fruits According to Their Maximum Ethylene Production Rate
Ethylene production rate Fruits
µL kg–1 h–1 at 20°C
Very low (0.01–0.1) Cherries, citrus, grapes, pomegranates, strawberries
Blueberries, kiwifruit, peppers, persimmon,
Low (0.1–1.0)
pineapples, raspberries
Moderate (1.0–10.0) Bananas, figs, honeydew melons, mango, tomatoes
Apples, apricots, avocados, plums, cantaloupe,
High (10.0–100.0)
nectarines, papaya, peaches, pears
Very high (>100.0) Cherimoya, mammy apples, passion fruit, sapota
Source: Kader (1980).
TABLE 6.3 Classification of Fruits and Vegetables According to Their Tolerance to Low
O2 Concentrations
Minimum O2 Commodities
concentration
tolerated (%)
0.5 Tree nuts, dried fruits and vegetables
1.0 Some cultivars of apples and pears, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic,
onions, most cut or sliced (minimally processed) fruits and vegetables
2.0 Most cultivars of apples and pears, kiwifruit, apricots, cherries,
nectarine, peaches, plums, strawberries, papaya, pineapple, olives,
cantaloupe, sweet corn, green beans, celery, lettuce, cabbage,
cauliflower, Brussel sprouts
238 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
6.4.1 RESPIRATION
6.4.3 TEMPERATURE
TABLE 6.5 Permeability Data of Some Polymeric Films, Air and Water
Permeability x 10¹¹ Activation energy Permeability
[mL(STP) cm cm–2 (kJ mol–1) ratio (β)
sec–1 (cm Hg)–1] CO2/O2
O2 CO2 O2 CO2
Polyethylene (density
30.0 131.6 42.4 38.9 4.39
0.914)
Polypropylene 17.4 75.5 47.7 38.1 4.34
Poly(vinyl chloride) 0.47 1.64 55.6 56.9 3.49
Poly(vinylidene chloride) 0.055 0.31 66.5 51.4 5.64
Air 2.5 x 108 1.9 x 108 3.6 3.60 0.76
Water 9.0 x 10² 2.1 x 104 15.8 15.8 23.33
Source: Kader et al. (1998).
Packages of all kinds are used in different parts of the world for packaging
and transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables.
6.5.2 WOOD
Wooden containers are still being commonly used in the form of reus-
able boxes or crates. They not only offer the benefits of strength and
reusability, wooden boxes when made to a standard size stack well
on trucks or storage rooms. Wooden boxes are now gradually being
replaced by less expensive alternatives. The disadvantages of wooden
containers are:
• they are not environment friendly as their usage leads to felling of
trees;
• obtaining uniformity of weight is a problem;
• they are heavy and costly to transport;
• they may cause compression and vibration injuries if contents are
over- or under-packed;
• they often have sharp edges, splinters, and nails, etc., which can eas-
ily cause damage to contents.
fruits and vegetables. Most CFB boxes are made of three or more layers
of paperboard manufactured by the Kraft process. The cardboard boxes
may easily collapse when empty if multiple use is intended. They are
seriously weakened if exposed to moisture and easily damaged by care-
less handling and stacking.
Molded plastics are strong, rigid, smooth, and are reusable. They are
usually molded, to almost any specification, from high-density poly-
thene and find wide application and usage in transportation of produce
in many countries. Packages with a top and bottom that are heat-formed
from one or two pieces of plastic are known as clamshells. Clamshells
are gaining wide popularity for their versatility, low cost, and for pro-
viding excellent protection to the produce. They also present a very
pleasing consumer package. Another advantage of molded plastic box
is that they can easily stack when full of produce and nest when empty,
thereby conserving storage space. However, they deteriorate rapidly on
exposure to sunlight and require treatment with a UV inhibitor, thus,
adding to the cost.
Paper or plastic film liners are usually used in packing boxes to reduce
water loss from contents and prevent friction damage. Plastic film bags
are widely used in fruit and vegetable industry. Owing to their low cost
they are commonly used in consumer-convenient packs. They provide a
clear view of the contents and allows for visual inspection of the content
by the user. However, under conditions with no control over tempera-
ture plastic bags can lead to heavy build-up of water vapor and aggra-
vates decay. Temperature can rise inside the polythene bags on exposure
to sunlight and, along with water vapor, result in rapid deterioration.
Therefore, consumer packs wrapped in plastic are not recommended
under tropical environmental conditions except when/where refrigerated
storage is available.
244 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
TABLE 6.6 Modified Atmosphere Packaging to Maintain Quality and Extend Storage
Life of Fruits and Vegetables
Crop Film/coating Altered physiology Reference
Apple LDPE Extended shelf life Geeson et al. (1994)
Avocado Methyl cellulose Reduced respiration rate, Maftoonazad and
maintained color and firmness Ramaswamy (2005)
Capsicum Polypropylene Reduced respiration rate and Singh et al. (2014)
extended shelf life upto 49 days
Carrot Chitosan Delayed microbial spoilage, Leceta et al. (2015)
and maintained color and
texture
Cucumber LDPE bags Alleviated chilling injury, and Wang and Qi (1997)
reduced weight loss
Fig Microperforated Minimized weight loss, decay, Villalobos et al.
film and extended shelf life (2014)
Grape Oriented PP Prevented fruit decay and Costa et al. (2011)
extended shelf life
Litchi PropaFreshTM Maintained physiological and Somboonlaew and
PFAM biochemical properties of fruit Terry (2010)
Mango Microperforated Alleviated chilling injury Pesis et al. (2000)
PE
Papaya Chitosan + Extended shelf life and quality Brazil et al. (2012)
Pectin of fresh-cut papaya
Snap peas Microperforated Maintained higher chlorophyll, Elwan et al. (2015)
polypropylene vitamin C, SSC, and extended
bag storage life
Sweet LDPE Fruits remained acceptable for Meheriuk et al.
Cherry 4–6 weeks (1995)
6.7.1 SENSORS
As stated before, fruits and vegetables are living biological products and
freshness of produce after harvest is affected by time, handling, environ-
mental conditions, and metabolic processes. Fruits and vegetables also
undergo various operations postharvest: pre-cooling, sorting, grading,
washing, packaging, storage, transportation, and retail. Consumers expect
produce to be fresh and safe. Quality sensing, therefore, becomes neces-
sary at different stages of production or supply chain. Packaged produce
in transit is prone to undesirable vagaries like physical injury, tempera-
ture abuse, microbial infection, etc. This is where sensors come into the
picture helping users to detect and record changes in product, package,
or environment. Also, these factors can have profound effect on fresh-
ness and quality of the produce (Siddiqui, 2015). There has been increas-
ing research on sensor technology in the domain of fruit and vegetable.
Quality attributes and disorders in fruits and vegetables studied through
non-invasive computer vision technologies like nuclear magnetic reso-
nance (NMR) relaxometry (MRR), NMR spectroscopy (MRS), ear infra-
red (NIR), mid infra-red (MIR), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Advances in Packaging of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables 249
TABLE 6.8 Use of NMR Relaxometry (MRR), NMR Spectroscopy (MRS), and MRI
Techniques in Sensing Quality and Disorders in Fruit and Vegetable Crops
Crop Maturity/ Bruises/ Tissue Heat Chill/ Infections
Sugar Voids/ breakdown injury freeze
seeds injury
Apple MRR/MRI MRI MRI/MRR
Avocado MRS/MRI
Banana MRR
Cherimoya MRR/MRI
Cherry MRR/MRS MRI
Cucumber MRI MRI
Durian MRS/MRI MRI
Grape MRS/MRR MRI
Kiwifruit MRR MRI/ MRI
MRR
Mandarin MRR MRI
Mango MRS/MRR MRI MRI
Mangosteen MRI MRI
Melon MRS MRI MRI
Nectarine MRI MRR
Onion MRI
Orange MRS/MRR MRI MRI
Papaya MRR
Peach MRI MRR/
MRI
Pear MRI MRR/MRI
Persimon MRI
Pineapple MRR/MRI
Potato MRR/MRI MRI MRI MRI
Strawberry MRI
Tomato MRR/MRI
Adapted from Ruiz-Altisent et al. (2010).
techniques are summarized in Tables 6.8 and 6.9. Physical injuries and
wounds are of common occurrence during transportation of fruit and veg-
etable crops. Impact sensors are based on force versus time measurements
250 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
to the time duration to which the product has been exposed. The mecha-
nism of visually detectable indication include change in enzymatic reac-
tions triggering a pH and color change, polymerization of a polymer that
usually becomes darker at a temperature dependent rate, and melting or
diffusion of substances that triggers a change in color in the indicator
window. TTIs are now available commercially, for example, Monitor®,
Checkpoint®, Fresh-Check®, OnVuTM, eO®, TT SensorTM (Poças et al.,
2008). Time monitoring is also very important to judge the time that has
elapsed since a package has been opened or activation of a label. Such
an integration of time-temperature component would also reveal visual
change in the indicator when a product has been exposed to temperature
abuse for a specific duration, thus indicating suitability/unsuitability of
the product for consumption.
and Bartlett, 1994), and is based on the fact that aroma, odor, and volatiles
are recognized through the sense of smell. A nose system mimics or exceeds
the human sense of smell or taste by generating a unique response to each
flavor or odor. The sensors evaluate the complex volatile mixture and col-
lectively assemble the constituents via a transducer to form a digital pat-
tern that is referred to as Electronic Aroma Signature Pattern (EASP). EASP
is highly unique and specific to the particular gas mixture being analyzed
(Baietto and Wilson, 2015). Aroma or odor is an important component of
fruits and vegetables, and is a function of flavor and sensory quality that
is so important from consumer’s perspective. Some of the most important
changes in fruit aroma take place during postharvest storage or shelf-life
period. Aroma volatiles not only indicate the stage of ripeness of the fruit but
also the physiological state of the fruit. Electronic nose technology incor-
porated into packaging can ascertain the state of ripeness, or if the produce
inside has rotten or got spoiled. Electronic noses can, therefore, be used to
TABLE 6.12 Summary on Use of RFID and WSN in Fruit and Vegetable Packaging and
Supply Chain
Crop/Application RFID or WSN application Reference
Apple Monitoring fruit quality and Vergara et al. (2007)
conservation stage of fruit
Durian WSN for monitoring maturity stage of Krairiksh et al. (2011)
fruit
Pineapple Use of RFID for temperature mapping Amador et al. (2009)
in supply chain
Fresh ready-to-eat Gapless traceability system using RF Mainetti et al. (2013)
(RTE) vegetable technologies and EPC global standard
products
Fresh produce Application of 2G-RFID system to Chen et al. (2014)
Smart cold chain system (SCCS) to
evolve Refined Smart Cold Chain
System (RSCCS)
Fruits and ‘Intelligent Container’ based on a Lang et al. (2011)
vegetables cognitive sensor network that measures
relevant parameters like temperature
and humidity
Lettuce Cold chain transport using WSN Ruiz-Garcia et al.
technology with real-time monitoring (2010)
of temperature, RH, door openings,
truck stops, and psychometry
Perishable items Integrated RFID-sensor network system Mejjaoli and
for optimization of logistics systems Babiceanu (2015)
operation
Perishable food RFID tags with temperature sensor to Jedermann et al.
products model shelf life and produce quality (2009)
during transportation
Supply chain of Real-time environment monitoring Wang et al. (2015)
perishable food
The export of fresh fruits and vegetables face many problems in terms of
quality phytosanitary requirements, postharvest handling and packaging.
Better storage and handling facilities at farm level, reduction in number of
intermediaries in the chain, development of bulk handling systems including
Advances in Packaging of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables 257
precooling and prepackaging can reduce loses. The shelf life of various
fruits and vegetables can be increased by 5–15 days when pre-packed.
Introduction of consumer packs like polyethylene bags with ventilation
holes, wrapping fruits and vegetables in stretch films and use of plastic pun-
nets not only increases the shelf life of the produce but also adds value to
the produce. Use of packages like plastic creates, leno bags, polypropylene
boxes also helps in extending the shelf life of the fresh produce. Postharvest
technologies including precooling, MAP, CAP, active packaging need to
be adopted for quality preservation and extension of shelf life of various
fruits and vegetables. If properly handled, temperature and packaging can
act favorably in preserving fruits and vegetables. Many novel techniques
and systems have become available for real-time measurement of produce
within the package and its environment. Non-destructive techniques and
technologies that allows for sensing and communication quality parameters
without having to open the package are promising. However, successful
commercialization of such technologies will depend on reliability of mea-
surements and correlation with existing established techniques.
KEYWORDS
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CHAPTER 7
CONTENTS
7.1 INTRODUCTION
FIGURE 7.1 Fresh-cut Papaya prepared, packaged in polypropylene trays and stored
under refrigerated conditions (4°C) at Food Processing Laboratory, Department of
Postharvest Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, India.
Fruits and vegetables are biological entities that are living even after their
detachment from the parent plant. The physiological systems of fruits and
vegetables are maintained postharvest as the metabolic reactions continue
(Table 7.1). The processes like respiration and transpiration continue after
harvest but due to detachment of produce from the plant, neither respi-
rable substrate loss nor moisture loss is compensated, making the produce
entirely dependent on its own reserves of food and moisture. This reduc-
tion in food reserves and moisture of produce after harvest initiates dete-
rioration of quality, giving the perishable character to these commodities.
The causes of deterioration may be internal (including respiration rate,
ethylene production and action, mechanical injuries, rates of composi-
tional changes, sprouting and rooting, physiological disorders) or external
(temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric composition and sanitation
procedures) or a combination of both.
Fresh cut fruits and vegetables are subjected to different minimal pro-
cessing procedures depending upon the type of commodity, which may
include cutting, trimming, shredding, stoning and peeling, resulting in
their physical injury. This physical damage of the fresh cut produce tissues
further enhances the deteriorative changes, increasing the perishability of
such products manifold.
The quality changes encountered in fresh cut fruits and vegetables are
basically a combined effect of different physiological processes, which
may be induced or enhanced as result of injury. The extent and severity of
these physiological changes depend on different factors including culti-
var, post-harvest crop management, physiological maturity, pre- and post-
cutting treatments, atmospheric composition. (Toivonen and DeEll, 2002).
The wounding of fruits and vegetables as a result of minimal pro-
cessing has been associated with increase in ethylene production in the
close vicinity of the wound area. Ethylene may have potential effects on
plant tissues depending on the type and physiology of tissue. Increase
in ethylene production after cutting has been reported for many fruits
and vegetables including galia, kiwifruit, tomato, papaya, and straw-
berry. Few studies have also reported contradictory results depicting no
change in ethylene content upon slicing of banana (Watada et al., 1990)
and decrease in ethylene production in cantaloupe upon cutting (Luna
Guzman et al., 1999).
Respiration of fruits and vegetables has been correlated to their shelf
life, higher respiration corresponding to lower shelf life (Kader, 1987).
Wounding of fruits and vegetables may enhance the respiration rate
which will eventually decrease the shelf life which may be attributed
to the assumption that a structural change of mitochondria and increase
in number of mitochondria is induced by wounding justifies this state-
ment (Siddiqui, 2015, 2016). However, the increase in respiration rate
of fresh cut fruits and vegetables shows a lot of variation. Watada et al.
(1990) reported an increase in respiration rate of kiwifruit on cutting but
no such increase was observed in banana.
Fruits and vegetables are mostly enclosed within a covering called
peel and at microscopic level; also there exist many membranes like
cell wall, cell membrane, organelle membrane. The function of these
coverings is to maintain the integrity of the produce. These membranes
get damaged during minimal processing which may trigger series of
processes detrimental to the quality of the product. Browning, develop-
ments of off-flavors (Brecht, 1995), free radical production (Thompson
270 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
7.3 MICROBIOLOGY
fruits and vegetables provide feasible conditions for the survival, growth
and proliferation of various types of microorganisms. Microbial decay is
the major source of spoilage of fresh-cut produce.
In general, hazards associated with food may be categorized as physi-
cal, chemical or microbiological. In fresh-cut industry, microbiologi-
cal safety is the main issue of concern (Table 7.2). Microorganisms are
natural contaminants associated with all the agricultural produce. These
The fragile nature of fresh cut fruits and vegetables in addition to their
increasing popularity has resulted in the surge of research in this field
development of new technologies to at least maintain, if not improve, the
quality of fresh cut products for longer duration. Few approaches to pre-
serve the quality of fresh cut produce presently under extensive research
include modified atmosphere packaging (Bai et al., 2001), surface treat-
ments through application of coatings (Bai and Baldwan, 2002), irradia-
tion (Xanthopoulos et al., 2012) and others.
Edible coatings are the surface treatments, using edible materials, given
to a food product that coats the outer surface of the product and provides
a barrier to moisture, oxygen, and solute movement for the food (Dhall,
2013). Being edible in nature these coatings are derived from natural
sources and thus are environmental friendly. As per the basic material
used in the formulation, the coatings may be classified into three broad
categories; polysaccharide, protein or lipid based. In order to achieve
maximum desired properties in a single coating a combination of these
basic coating might also be used which are known as composite coat-
ings. The important polysaccharides that can be used in formulation of
coatings include starches, dextrin, pectin, cellulose and its derivatives,
chitosan, alginate, carrageenan, gellan and so on. Similarly proteins
like gluten, collagen, zein, casein, and whey protein, and lipids like car-
nauba wax, beeswax waxes, acylglycerols or fatty acids also possess
the desired properties and can be developed into effective coatings. Use
of edible coatings on fresh cut produce will only be successful if the
coating material possesses certain properties including efficient water
vapor barrier capacity, stability under high relative humidity, efficient
oxygen and carbon dioxide barrier capacity, good mechanical proper-
ties, easy adhesion with product, physico-chemical and microbial sta-
bility and reasonable cost. The application of edible coating on fresh
cut produce can serve many purposes including reduce water loss, delay
ripening of climacteric fruits, delay color changes, improve appearance,
reduce aroma loss, reduce exchange of humidity between fruit pieces,
act as carriers of antioxidants, texture enhancers, volatile precursors,
nutraceuticals, reduce quality losses and extend the shelf life of these
products. The use of edible coating isolates the coated product from the
282 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
KEYWORDS
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CHAPTER 8
POSTHARVEST PATHOLOGY,
DETERIORATION AND SPOILAGE
OF HORTICULTURAL PRODUCE
S. M. YAHAYA
Department of Biology, Kano University of Science and Technology,
Wudil, P.M.B. 3244, Nigeria, E-mail: [email protected]
CONTENTS
Keywords............................................................................................... 308
References.............................................................................................. 308
8.1 INTRODUCTION
Studies by Alao (2000) reported that the long chain and complex mar-
keting system of agricultural produce between the producers and consum-
ers make it very difficult to determine accurate level of losses of many
crops in Nigeria. He therefore, concluded that Nigeria justified it inclusion
in the list of poor countries because food security rating is very low and
not guaranteed in Nigeria. Report by FAO (2009) showed that agricultural
produce in Nigerian were not been able to meet world standard due to
poor post-harvest handling. Therefore, this necessitated the need to gather
eases, conditions which favor diseases development, and other methods
of developing more effective systems of disease’s control, so as to reduce
cost and increases availability.
TABLE 8.3 Some Important Food Crops and their Principal Diseases
Crop Fungal Viral Nematode Bacterial
Tomato Botrytis cinerea
Lycopersicon Aspergillus spp
esculentum Penicillium spp
Pepper Botrytis cinerea
capsicum Aspergillus spp
annum Alternaria alternate
Lettuce Botrytis cinerea
Lactuca Aspergillus spp
sativa
Pea pisum Mosaic virus,
sativa Ascochyta spp
8.2.3.1 Yeast
8.2.3.2 Mold
Molds are filamentous fungi that do not produce large fruiting bodies.
Molds are very important for recycling dead plant and animals remains
in nature but also attacks a wide variety of foods. Mold is larger than
bacteria and yeast and more complex in structure (Chang and Kang,
2004). Majority of postharvest diseases causing mold belong to the class
Ascomycetes. They are well adapted for growth on and through solid sub-
stances, generally produce airborne spores, and require oxygen for their
metabolic processes. Most molds grow at a pH range of 3 to 8 and some
can grow at very low water activity levels (0.7–0.8) on dried foods. Spores
can tolerate hash environmental conditions but most are sensitive to heat
treatment. An exception is Byssochlammys, whose spores have a D value
of 1–12 min at 90°C. Different mold species have different optimal growth
temperatures, with some able to grow in refrigerators. They have a diverse
secondary metabolism. Some spoilage molds are carcinogenic while oth-
ers are not (Chang and Kang, 2004). Spoilage molds can be categorized
into four groups:
(a) Zygomycetes are considered relatively primitive fungi but are
widespread in nature, growing rapidly on simple carbon source
in soil and plant debris, and their spores are commonly present in
indoor air. Generally, they required high-water activities for growth
and are notorious for causing rots in a variety of stored fruits and
vegetables, including strawberries and sweet potatoes. Some com-
mon bread molds also are Zygomycetes. Some Zygomycetes are
also utilized for production of fermented soy products, enzymes, and
organic chemicals. The most common spoilage species are Mucor
and Rhizopus. Zygomycetes are not known for producing mycotox-
ins but there are some reports of toxic compounds produced by a few
species (Doyle, 2007).
(b) Penicillium and related genera are present in soils and plant
debries both tropical and Antarctic conditions but tend to domi-
nate spoilage in temperate regions. They are distinguished by their
reproductive structures that produce chains of conidia. Although
they can be useful to humans in producing antibiotics and blue
300 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
8.2.3.3 Bacteria
Foods by their nature are rich in carbohydrates, proteins and lipids that
microbes as well as humans find very nutritious. Living plants have
Postharvest Pathology, Deterioration and Spoilage 303
8.3.1 VEGETABLES
Intact, healthy fruits have many microbes on their surfaces but can usu-
ally inhibit their growth until after harvest. Ripening weakens cell walls
304 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
The first step in ensuring a postharvest control and safe final products
is prevention through preharvest control. Some seeds are contaminated
306 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
with mycotoxins in the field. If the infections occur in the field, as in the
case of wheat, barley, and corn, the fungal pathogens (Fusarium spp.)
will continued to develop during postharvest stages and storage. Myco-
toxins, such as fumonisin B1, are invariably produced preharvest.
Aflatoxins may be produced both pre- and postharvest. Drying the seed
to a safe water activity level is one to 14% for maize and 9.5% for
groundnuts at 20°C it is possible to reduce the growth of Aspergillus
flavus (Wareing, 1999).
Insect infestation of seed results in greater level of damaged kernels,
favoring higher incidence of A. flavus and A. parasiticus. Hence, control
of insect infestation may help prevent proliferation of Aspergillus spp.
and aflatoxins production. Proper disposal of infected crop residues
that may form the source of inoculum for infection of the next crop and
adoption of a proper crop sequence (rotation) have been suggested to
reduce infection by fungi producing mycotoxins. A maize-soybean rota-
tion may result in a reduction in the incidence of Fusarium spp com-
pared to monoculture of maize. Soil fertility and drought stress appear
to have some influence on the level of preharvest aflatoxins contamina-
tion of maize. Drought followed by high moisture conditions has been
found to be favorable for the development of Fusarium moniliforme
and fumonism production. Development of cultivars resistant to toxi-
genic fungal pathogens may be the ideal approach for the management
of mycotoxin contaminations. Some investigations have indicated the
possibility of producing wheat and corn cultivars with resistance to the
pathogens producing mycotoxins.
Factors such as timeliness, clean-up, and drying to maintain safe levels are
important during harvesting. As crops left on the field for longer periods
shows higher levels of mycotoxins contamination, it is essential to harvest
the crops at the right time, followed by adequate drying, for mycotoxins
decontamination, biological methods have been explored (Siddiqui, 2016).
The possibility of degrading aflatoxins using certain fungi, which produce
peroxidases was reported by Lopez-Garcia and Park (1998). Among the
Postharvest Pathology, Deterioration and Spoilage 307
several chemicals evaluated for their ability to inactivate and reduce the
hazard of mycotoxins, ammonification has been shown to be an effective
process. Aflatoxin’s contamination in maize, peanuts, and cotton could be
significantly reduced by the ammonification process (Lopez-Garcia and
Park, 1998).
Due to the unpredictable and heterogeneous nature of mycotoxins
production and contamination, it may not be possible to achieve 100%
destruction of all mycotoxins in all food systems. However, it is consid-
ered that the use of HACCP-based hurdle system, in which contamination
is monitored and controlled throughout production and postproduction
operations, may be effective. The development of suitable integrated
mycotoxins management systems may control at points from the field to
the consumer (Lopez-Garcia et al., 2004).
8.5 CONCLUSION
KEYWORDS
•• Food Spoilage
•• Horticultural Produce
•• Postharvest Pathology
•• Quality preservation
•• Safety measures
•• Shelf Life
•• Spoilage Pathogens
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CHAPTER 9
NATURAL ANTIMICROBIALS IN
POSTHARVEST STORAGE AND
MINIMAL PROCESSING OF FRUITS
AND VEGETABLES
MUNIR ABBA DANDAGO
Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture
and Agricultural Technology, Kano University of Science and
Technology, Wudil, Kano State, Nigeria
CONTENTS
9.1 INTRODUCTION
Consumers are nowadays more concerned about both the fresh and pro-
cessed food they eat and so there is increasing interest to replace the
Natural Antimicrobials in Postharvest Storage and Minimal Processing 313
of fresh cut fruits (Allende et al., 2006; Chien et al., 2007; Lanciotti et al.,
2004; Gonzale–Anguilar et al., 2010; Rico et al., 2007; D Amato et al.,
2010; Companiello et al., 2008).
Many researches have shown that the use of antimicrobials can reduce
or eliminate specific microorganisms but it may also produce favorable
conditions for others. Thus combining essential oils could lead to useful
efficacy against both spoilage and pathogenic organisms (Marija et al.,
2009).
KEYWORDS
•• Antogonistic Micro-Organisms
•• Fruits and Vegetables
•• Minimal Processing
•• Natural Antimicrobials
•• Natural Coatings
•• Postharvest Storage
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Natural Antimicrobials in Postharvest Storage and Minimal Processing 323
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CHAPTER 10
ENHANCE: BREAKTHROUGH
TECHNOLOGY TO PRESERVE AND
ENHANCE FOOD
CHARLES L. WILSON
Founder/Chairman and CEO, World Food Preservation Center LLC,
E-mail: [email protected]
CONTENTS
10.1 INTRODUCTION
Plants and animals have coevolved over a billion years. We are just start-
ing to fully appreciate how they have evolved multiple ways to help one
326 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
The phenomenon of hormesis came into prominence during the cold war.
Russian scientists studied extensively the effects of radiation (Gamma,
X-rays, and UV) on plants in conjunction with the development of atomic
weapons (Lucky, 1980). In looking at the dosage effects of radiation on
whole plants and seeds, Russian scientist repeatedly found a stimulatory
effect by low dosages of irradiation. These results were initially attributed
to experimental error but finally accepted as the concept of hormesis that
states that low-dosages of a stressor, such as radiation that normally causes a
ENHANCE: Breakthrough Technology to Preserve and Enhance Food 327
hydrolases (El Ghaouth et al., 2003), and phytoalexins (Adrian et al., 1997;
Nwachukwu, 2013). Resveratrol is a phytoalexin produced by grapes, blue-
berries, and other fruit in response to stress (Wang et al., 2003). Phytoalexin
are antimicrobial compounds that helps defend plant tissue against micro-
bial invasion. Resveratrol has also been claimed to have extraordinary ben-
efits for human health based on animal studies including: (a) Protecting the
endothelial lining of arteries; (b) Reducing oxidative stress, which prevents
premature aging of cells; (c) Blocking the production of noxious inflam-
matory agent; (d) Cellular support that improves mental function, and pro-
motes oral/dental health; (e) Cancer suppression by preventing cancer cell
replication and enhancing cancer cell death in a variety of laboratory cell
culture studies; and (f) Improve muscle health, by reducing muscle wasting
associated with diabetes and cancer. All these claims need to be validated
in clinical studies, but they still show the remarkable potential of stress-
induced chemicals in plants to impact on animal health.
330 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
UV-C light has turned out to be an excellent hormetin that can elicit a
number of improvements to harvested food. It is postulated that UV elicits
beneficial effects by slight damage to the DNA of the plant tissue. The
plant cell then responds with a variety of defensive responses including
the production of defensive compounds (hydrolases, antioxidants, phyto-
alexins, flavonoids) and cell wall thickening (Charles et al., 2009; Siddiqui
et al., 2016).
The pioneering work of the late Clauzell Steven at Tuskegee University
and his associates (among whom I gratefully include myself) have shown
the usefulness of low doses of UV-C light in reducing the postharvest
decay of fruits and vegetables and extending their shelf life (Stevens et
al., 1996, 1999, 2004, 2005). Stevens et al. (2005) demonstrated that the
resistant response induced in harvested food was systemic. When just the
ends of sweet potatoes were irradiated with UV-C light the induced resis-
tance was actually greater than if all the surfaces of the sweet potato were
irradiated.
Even with the great potential for the use of UV-C to enhance resis-
tance in harvested food and increase its nutrient content there has been
very limited commercialization of this technology. On-line applica-
tors have been designed (Wilson et al., 1997). Valdebenito-Sanhueza in
Brazil (Valdebenito-Sanhueza and Maia, 2001) has designed and used an
on-line applicator of UV-C that was able to pay for itself after only 1.1
days operation on apples by the savings realized through disease control
(Figure 10.3).
It has been demonstrated the pulsed treatment of mushrooms enhances
their vitamin D content by as much as five times (Kalaras et al., 2012).
Dole has commercialized this technology both for whole mushrooms
and in a mushroom powder (Figure 10.4).
ENHANCE: Breakthrough Technology to Preserve and Enhance Food 331
FIGURE 10.3 UV-C applicator for apples (Valdebenito-Sanhueza and Maia, 2001).
FIGURE 10.4 Commercial Dole mushroom with enhanced vitamin D content as a result
of pulsed UV light treatments (Kalaras et al., 2012).
332 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
KEYWORDS
•• ENHANCE concept
•• Fruit and vegetable shelf life
•• Hormesis
•• Induced plant defense
•• Irradiation treatment
•• Postharvest quality
•• Xenohormesis
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INDEX
A Antimicrobial
activities, 316, 317
Abscisic acid, 102, 183, 205, 214
properties, 316, 317
Achillea filipendulina, 115
sanitizing effect, 314
Acidic water, 126
Antirrhinum, 107
Aeromonashydrophila, 275
Antirrhinum majus, 107, 115, 140
Agaricus bisporus, 152, 154, 157, 158,
Anti-tumor effects, 330
162, 163, 171
Antiviral effect, 160
Air distribution, 10, 12, 17
Antogonistic micro-organisms, 320, 319
Air infiltration, 8
Aranchnis, 128
Air pre-cooling methods types, 9–15
Aranthera, 128
forced-air-cooling, 13
Arduino wireless sensor network, 55
operation, 14
Artichokes, 34
pallet racking, 13
Ascorbic acid, 33, 71, 78, 170, 172, 198,
trapped tunnel pre-cooler system, 13
245
vertical airflow, 13, 15
Asparagus, 34, 43
natural convection air-cooling (room
Aspergillus, 300, 303
cooling method), 9–12
Aspergillus flavus, 306
modified room cooling method, 12
Astilbe hybrids, 114
Air stream, 3, 22, 25, 137
Auxin efflux carriers, 105, 106, 189
Air velocity, 11, 53, 239
Avocados, 34
Air-cooling, 2, 7, 11, 13, 18, 19, 22, 27,
32, 33, 38, 45, 58, 123, 169
Air-freight terminal, 110
B
Ajuga reptans, 206 Bacillus spp., 301
Aloe vera gel, 315 Bacterial blotch, 175
Alphonso, 183 Bamboo baskets, 129, 174
Alstroemeria, 92, 96, 104, 124, 129, Barn storage, 84
132, 143 Bellis perennis, 114, 140
Alternaria alternata, 315 Bent neck in gerbera, 217
Amaranthus tricolor, 114 Biosensors, 250
Aminoethoxyvinylglycine, 194, 195 Biosynthesis, 103, 105, 183, 184, 195,
Amrapali mango fruits, 199 214, 268, 279, 280
Anemone coronaria, 215 enzymes, 100
Anthocyanin biosynthetic gene, 207 pathway, 100
Anthurium, 93, 96, 98, 124, 128, Blackening symptoms, 108
131–134, 139, 215 Botrytis, 98, 142, 204, 218, 300, 303,
Antibacterial effect, 160 304
Anti-inflammatory, 159, 316 Botrytis blight, 204, 218
336 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Botrytis cinerea, 106, 218, 300, 303, 315 Carnation, 92, 93, 96, 97, 100, 102, 105,
Breathable materials, 245 121, 124, 128, 129, 132, 133, 139,
Broccoli, 7, 34, 41–45, 251 142, 143, 204, 208, 209
cooling methods, 45 Carotene, 200, 205
forced air-cooling, 45 Carrots, 22, 34, 44, 266, 271, 317
hydrocooling, 45 Cassava, 69, 71–73, 75, 76
package icing, 45 Manihot esculenta Crantz, 70, 75
room cooling, 45 Cattleya, 113, 124, 131, 134
Brown discoloration, 167 Cauliflower, 9, 22, 37, 156
Brussels, 9, 22, 34, 44 Celery, 22, 34
Bud harvesting systems, 113, 115, 116, Cellulose acetate, 131
256 Cellulose wood, 131
Bunching, 117, 118 Centaurea spp., 114
Byssochlammys, 299 Central equipment room, 31
Chemical conversation, 328
C Chinaster, 208
Calcium carbonate, 164 Chlorophyll, 109, 205, 206, 214, 245,
Calcium ionophore, 98 268
Calendula, 113, 136 Chrysanthemum, 92, 93, 120, 124,
Calendula officinalis, 114, 140 125, 128, 132, 139, 143, 203, 204,
Callistephus chinensis, 114, 140 207–209, 215
Calocybe indica, 152, 154, 173 Cinnamon, 317
Campanula spp., 114 Citric acid, 117, 125, 127, 128, 161,
Candida and related genera, 298 170–172
Canning, 163, 171, 173, 266 Clamp storage, 84, 85
process, 171 Clarkia unquiculata, 114, 140
Class-I, 122
blanching, 171
Class-II, 122
cooling, 171
Clostridium spp., 301
earning, 171 Cocoyams, 78
filling, 171 Colocasia esculenta, 78
labeling and packaging, 171 Taro, 78
sterilization, 171 Xanthosomas sagittifolium, 78
Cantaloupes, 34, 44 Tannia, 78
Capacity design, 18 Cold chain, 4, 5, 43, 44, 48, 49, 52,
Cape gooseberry, 201 53–55, 60, 232
Carbohydrate supply, 107, 109, 110, 126 Cold war, 326
Carbohydrates, 70, 107, 108, 110, 112, Cold-storage, 174, 218
137, 205, 215, 302 Color browning, 163
Carbon monoxide, 55 Compression test, 130
Cardboard (fiberboard), 242 Consolida ambigua, 114
Cardiovascular, 159 Control of the cold chain projects, 47
Cardoic tonic, 160 Controlled atmosphere, 51, 52, 97, 165,
Careless handling and stacking, 243 240
storage, 48, 141
packaging, 165, 240
Index 337
Shelf life, 2, 7, 11, 32, 39, 46–48, 53, Sweet corn, 30, 34, 44
54, 124, 161–167, 170, 171, 174, 175, Sweet potato (Ipomea batatas L.), 70, 77
194, 198–201, 240, 245, 253–257, System classification, 20
267, 269, 276–279, 281, 283, 308, dry system, 24
315–318, 326, 330 secondary coolant coil, 24
Shewanella putrefaciens, 302
Shigella species, 275 T
Silver thiosulfate, 94, 101, 107, 111, 119 Tagetes erecta, 114, 140
Simulated annealing (SA) technique, 41 Temperature and relative humidity
meta-heuristic technique, 41 control, 52
Slurry ice, 2, 7, 42–47, 60 Thermodynamically equations, 40
Smart cold chain system, 256 Thermodynamically model, 40, 41
Smart packaging, 247, 257 Thermophysical specifications, 19
Snapdragon, 131, 132, 136, 142 Thidiazuron, 104
Society of American Florist, 120, 121 Time-temperature indicators, 248, 251
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, 127 Titrable acidity, 196
Sodium erythorbate, 164 Total electricity consumption, 58
Sodium hypochlorite, 33, 164 Translocation, 184
Solidago spp., 114 Transportation, 4, 42, 43, 54, 80–83, 86,
Spadix, 133, 134 87, 98, 101, 129, 130, 163, 174, 217,
Spoilage, 79, 86, 161–163, 167, 168, 233–236, 241, 243, 248, 249, 256
172, 199, 200, 239, 250, 255, 270, Tropaeolum majus, 114
271, 275, 276, 293, 298–304, 307, Tuberose, 108, 206, 215
308, 312, 314, 317, 319 Tulipa cvs., 114, 141
molds, 299 Tulips, 107, 115
pathogens, 303, 308 Tyrosine ammonia lyase, 206
Stalk length, 207, 208
Staphylococcus aureus, 275 U
Steeping preservation, 170
Storage, 167 Ultra-low-oxygen (ULO) storage, 48
controlled atmospheric storage, 167 Underground storage, 84
life, 34, 78, 82, 87, 129, 142, 192, UV, 101, 243, 325–327, 330, 331
198, 199, 238, 244
methods, 84, 85, 135 V
optimum storage conditions, 167 Vacuum, 2, 23, 30, 34–42, 51, 60, 166,
packaging, 219 169, 170, 301
Strawberries, 20, 22, 24, 28, 32–34, 299 cooler, 35
Strelitzia flower, 108 cooling, 7, 23, 34–41, 169
Styrofoam box, 130 treatment of broccoli, 41
Suberin, 75 Vanda, 128, 134
Sucrose, 107, 124–129, 137, 205, 207, Variable frequency drive, 26, 51
213, 214 Variable speed drive, 52, 58
Supply chain, 52, 55, 232, 234, 248, Vase life, 93–97, 99, 104, 108–110, 112,
250, 254–256 113, 115, 116, 126–128, 135, 138,
real-time tracking information, 55 144, 213–215, 217, 219
Surfactants, 125
344 Postharvest Management of Horticultural Crops
Vase solution, 99, 107, 113, 128, 144, World Health Organization, 266
211 WSN technology, 256
Vibration test, 130
Viola odorata, 115, 141 X
Viola x wittrockiana, 114 Xanthomonas campestris, 302
Vita Flora, 112 Xenohormesis, 325–328, 331, 332
Vitamin content of edible mushrooms, X-rays, 326
157 Xylem tubes, 109
Volvariella volvacea, 152, 154, 157,
158, 174 Y
W Yam (Dioscorea Spp), 70, 76
Bitter yam (D. dumetorum Pax), 77
Washing, 163–166, 248, 266, 274, 314, Chinese yam (D. esculenta), 77
317 Water yam (D. alata L.), 76
Water loss during vacuum cooling deter- White yam (Dioscorea rotundata
mination, 39 poir), 76
Water resistant, 23, 130 Yellow yam (D. cayenensis Lam), 76
Water spray systems, 39 Yeast, 271, 291, 298, 304
Water tolerant packages, 44 Yersinia enterocolitica, 275
Wet cooling system, 20
Wet deck system, 2, 20, 24 Z
low air temperature, 2
relative humidity, 2 Zinnia elegans, 115, 141
Wet packing of flowers, 131 Zizyphus jujuba Mill, 191
Wetting agents, 125 Zygomycetes, 299
White button mushroom, 154, 163 Zygosaccharomyces, 298, 304
Wireless sensor network, 55, 56 Debaryomyces hansenii, 298