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PRE-COOLING IN HORTICULTURAL CROPS

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 Trends & Prospects in
Post Harvest Management
of Horticultural Crops
Editors:
Prof. Dr. Surajit Mitra
Professor and Head
Department of Post Harvest Technology
BCKV, Mohanpur, Nadia, India
Prof. Dr. Asis Kumar Banik
Professor
Department of Post Harvest Technology
BCKV, Mohanpur, Nadia, India
Mr. Arghya Mani
Research Scholar
Department of Post Harvest Technology
BCKV, Mohanpur, Nadia, India
Dr. Venkatesh Satish Kuchi
Teaching Associate
Department of Post Harvest Technology
College of Horticulture, Dr. YSR Horticultural University
Anantharajupeta, Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh
Mr. Nirmal Kumar Meena
Assistant Professor
Agriculture University, Kota, Rajasthan, India

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 Preface
Food preservation has been proficient in different parts of the world
since time immemorial. Like many other industrial sectors, technological
progress in food preservation achieved its strength and momentum only
after the outbreak of the First World War when supply of large quantities
of food need to be arranged for the soldiers in the warfront. The 2nd World
War added another strong impetus to the growth of food industry. Although,
the industry initiated in a problematic war situation, now it is considered
to be of perennial importance. It also assures a stable market to the growers
as well as consumers at different corners of the world and skips the situation
of market glut, extreme fall of price and wastage due to spoilage. However,
fruit and vegetable preservation industry is still at its beginning in India.
Unfortunately most of the available research is scattered in scientific papers,
reports and technical publications. Our country India is thriving for
improved processing technology. The highly perishable horticultural crops
need to have enhanced processing technologies. Latest processing
information have to be disseminated on a country-wide scale through proper
training and demonstration so that full advantage of it can be availed by
the interested entrepreneurs in this industry. The recent trend in the changing
eating pattern of our population mainly due to migration from village to
cities and increasing number of working women has flexed a large canvas
for the food technologists to act. People are much more health conscious
and facing acute shortage of time leading to inclination towards convenient
food like ready to eat and ready to drink and ready to cook food, specialized
menus like snacks customized for various ages and physical requirement
etc are coming as hot cake. The challenges offered to develop innovative
and authentic food those are being grabbed by new generation
entrepreneurs. Under this perspective, our recent publication “TRENDS
& PROSPECTS IN POST HARVEST TECHNOLOGY OF
HORTICULTURAL CROPS” forms a strong basis for students,
researchers in the food processing field on which they may further explore
and improve food standards.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Books are incomplete without author’s dedication. The first thanks
goes to all the authors of the book who are from pioneer institutes of India
and abroad. They have not only ensured a very good quality chapter
submission but most of them got published with minimum corrections.
Their effort to get the book published is sincerely acknowledged. A special
thanks to the almighty God without grace of whom, such publication
initiative would not have been possible. Beside that those persons who
helped us to spread our call for book chapter is also acknowledged. The
more diverse the distribution of authors, the greater is the quality of
publication. A special thanks to Venkata Satish Kuchi, D. Sridhar, Ravi
Kiran, Raghupati B., Prabhugouda Patil, Nityamanjari Mishra, E. Rambabu,
Saheb Pal, Tanmoy Sarkar, Dutta Reddy, Antima Gupta, Siddharood
Maragal, Niyati Jain, Bhojaraj Belakud, K. Prasad, Nirmal Kumar Meena,
Manisha Momin, Radha Kushwaha and Nilam Das for collection of chapters
and helping us in every aspect. A special thanks to Prof. Surajit Mitra,
Prof. Ivi Chakraborty, Prof. Asis Kumar Banik, Prof. Surajit Mitra and
Prof. Prodyut Kumar Paul for their motivation and inspiration. Last but
not the lest, we want to thanks our publisher for trusting our capabilities,
accepting our content and publishing our book.
 ABOUT THE EDITORS

1. Prof. Dr. Surajit Mitra

Dr. Surajit Mitra acquired his B.Sc. (Ag.) Hons. degree

securing a first class in 1990 from Bidhan Chandra Krishi
Viswavidyalaya (Agril. University), West Bengal, India.
He received the M. Sc. (Ag.) in Horticulture and Ph. D. in
Horticulture degrees also from Bidhan Chandra Krishi
Viswavidyalaya in 1993 and 1998 respectively. He was
awarded several National and International Fellowships,
and participated in International Training Courses on Postharvest
Technology, and has research experience of having worked at Kasetsart
University, Thailand; Postharvest Education Foundation, USA; Agricultural
Research Organization, Israel; and Wageningen University, Netherlands.
He also attended and presented several research papers on postharvest
technology in International Conferences in England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
and Germany. Prof. Mitra chaired a Technical Session in the 17th World
Congress on Nutrition and Food Chemistry - 2018 at London, UK. Dr.
Mitra is a Professor and Head of the Department of Post Harvest Technology
under the Faculty of Horticulture at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya
(Agril. University), West Bengal, India. Prof. Mitra has published 54
research papers in peer reviewed national and international journals,
authored 6 book chapters and 1 book on postharvest technology of
horticultural crops in general and tropical tuber crops in particular. He has
acted as an invited editor for special issues on postharvest technology in
some Open Access Journals. Prof. Mitra has also been serving as a reviewer
and an editorial board member of several reputed journals. Among various
recognitions, Best AICRP Centre Award, Chaudhary Debi Lal Outstanding
AICRP Award from Indian Council of Agricultural Research as a team
member of AICRP on Tuber Crops; Best Paper Award by International
Society for Horticultural Science for a collaborative research work with
colleagues in Venezuela; Outstanding Scientist Award-2018 from the
Society of Tropical Agriculture, New Delhi, India, Eminent Scientist Award-
2016 from Samagra Vikas Welfare Society, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India,
Outstanding Scientist Award-2015 from Venus International Foundation,
Chennai, India; Achiever Award-2015 from SADHNA, Dr. YS Parmar
University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
are noteworthy. Starting as a Lecturer in 1997, he became Reader in 2006,
Associate Professor in 2009 and Professor in 2012 at Bidhan Chandra
Krishi Viswavidyalaya (Agril. University), West Bengal, India. Dr. Mitra
has deep involvement in research on nutritional facts, postharvest quality
maintenance and storage of horticultural crops, and characterization of
indigenous genotypes of different tropical tuber crops to identify promising
types having higher productivity, better nutritional quality and longer
storability for reducing food waste and enhancing food security. Dr. Mitra
is involved both in research and teaching of undergraduate and post graduate
courses on postharvest technology of horticultural crops. He has supervised
8 students of M. Sc. (Hort.) and 6 students of Ph. D. in Post Harvest
Technology of Horticultural Crops. He has developed two varieties of sweet
potato and one variety each of taro, elephant foot yam and swamp taro.
Among two varieties of sweet potato, one is orange-fleshed having high
beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A which has considerable potential
to contribute to tackle the problem of vitamin A deficiency. Dr. Mitra is a
Life Member of the Horticultural Society of India; Indian Science Congress
Association; Society for the Advancement of Horticulture; Indian Society
for Root Crops; Crop and Weed Science Society; Editorial Board Member
of International Journal of Forestry and Horticulture and Permanent
Honorary Board Member of Society for advancement of Human and Nature.
2. Prof. Dr. Asis Kumar Banik

Dr. Asis Kumar Banik is serving as Professor in the

Department of Post-harvest Technology, Faculty of
Horticulture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya and
has more than 20 years of experience in teaching, research
and extension in the field of post-harvest technology of
horticultural crops. He guided 22 M.Sc. and 1 PhD
students and published more than 30 research papers in
reputed journals. Dr. Banik has participated in more than 25 National and
International symposia. He acted as Guest teacher in several institutions
.He underwent 7 training programmes on post-harvest technology. He
published two practical manuals for UG course and one operating manual
on certification of organic produce. Besides several other assignments he
acted as Co-PI in DST (GOI) project and also acted as state level evaluator
in National Children’s’ Science Congress for many years. He is life member
of Crop and Weed Science Society and Society for Advancement of
Horticulture.
3. Mr. Arghya Mani
Mr. Arghya Mani is a Research Scholar in the Department
of Post-Harvest Technology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi
Viswavidyalaya (BCKV), Mohanpur, India. He has
completed B.Sc. Horticulture and M.Sc. Pomology and
Post-Harvest Technology in the year 2015 and 2017
respectively. He has qualified ICAR-NET in Fruit Science.
He has attended 10 national & international conferences/
seminars/symposium, 3 workshops, 3 training programs. He has industrial
training exposure of one month in “Overseas Agro-product Pvt. Ltd”. As
1st author he have got 1 book, 5 popular articles, 10 research papers, 15
book chapters, 7 review papers published at both national and international
level. Beside that he has successfully represented NGO’s to discriminate
knowledge related to horticulture technology and food processing at
farmer’s level. He is reviewer of “Journal of Agricultural and bio-chemical
Sciences” and “International Journal of Agricultural Sciences”. He is
advisory board member of “Cambridge Scholar Publishing”. He got
awarded with “Certificate of Merit” for his academic excellence during
his bachelor degree. Beside that he has been awarded with “Best Oral
presentation” three times in different events. He has also been awarded
“Young Professional Award” twice in different seminars. He got awarded
“Young Scientist Award” by SIRI society as well. Recently, he was felicitated
with “Gold Medal” for ‘Best Master Degree Thesis’ during 6th convocation
of Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya. At present, he is working on diverse
aspects related to minor and underutilized fruits. He is actively doing
research to ensure doubling of farmers’ income by innovative processing
technology.
4. Dr. Venkatesh Satish Kuchi
Dr. Venkata Satish Kuchi received his B.Sc. in Horticulture
from Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, M.Sc.
(Horticulture) in Post Harvest Management from Rajamata
Vijaraje Scindia Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya (Gwalior) and
Ph.D. (Horticulture) in Post Harvest Technology from
Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (Mohanpur), West
Bengal, India. He is currently working as Teaching
Associate in the Department of Post Harvest Technology at College of
Horticulture, Dr. YSR Horticultural University, Anantharajupeta, Kadapa
District, Andhra Pradesh from 31-10-2015. He has qualified ICAR’s AIEEA
to Post Graduate degree programmes and for the Academic Session 2008-
09. He has also qualified NET (National Eligibility Test) conducted by
ICAR from ‘Fruit Science’ discipline. He worked as Reasearch Associate,
Horticulture for Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kampasagar, Nalgonda district of
ANGRAU from 07.03.2011 to 20.09.2012. He Served as Research Fellow
in the project entitled “Action research on efficiency of selected cold
storages regarding storage of potato, fruits and vegetables” for Directorate
of Research, BCKV, Nadia, West Bengal from 10.12.2013 to 31.12.2014.
He has published nearly 31 research articles, four book chapters, one book,
9 popular articles and delivered a radio talk at ALL INDIA RADIO. He
participated in several national and international conferences and he is life
member of nearly 11 scientific societies. He is associate editor for
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences (Bioinfo publications) and
Assistant Editor for Journal of Postharvest Technology. He received 6
awards from different organizations.
5. Mr. Nirmal Kumar Meena
Mr. Nirmal Kumar Meena is working as an Assistant
Professor at Agriculture University, Kota, Rajasthan, India.
He is project in-charge (AICRP on Arid Zone Fruits) at
Jhalawar centre. He has significantly contributed in the
field of research and extension in Horticultural sciences.
He did his graduation in horticulture from CH&F, Jhalawar
(MPUAT, Udaipur City) Rajasthan. He has completed his
Master’s degree and Ph.D. (running) from Indian Agricultural Research
Institute, New Delhi in Post-Harvest Technology of Horticultural Crops
and presently serving as Assistant Professor at Agriculture University, Kota.
He has published 10 research papers in national and international journals,
3 review papers, 4 book chapters in international books, 30 popular articles
in different repute magazines and 10 abstracts in different seminars. He
has participated in more than 14 national and international seminars. He is
also editorial member of the journal ‘Archives of Agriculture and
Environment’ and reviewer of different international journals. He has
awarded with ‘Young Scientist Award - (2018)’ by the Department of
Botany, Allahabad University, Allahabad. He also got ‘Best Poster Award’
in ICPASN held at Lucknow during 2016. Apart from research and
academics, he is also an outstanding player of badminton and handball
and won several prizes at state, university and district level.
 Contents
1. Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops:
Scope, institutions, academic courses, research
and job opportunities in India
K. Prasad, Arghya Mani, Pranay Kumar and
Pragati Singham

2. Ethylene – its role, biosynthesis, perception and action

Arghya Mani, Payel Panja,Venkata Satish Kuchi and
Surajit Mitra

3. Post harvest treatments in temperate fruits to

increase its shelf life, nutrient quality and longevity
Trina Adhikary and Aeshna Sinnha

4. Applications of nanotechnology in postharvest

handling and processing of horticultural crops
Gajanan Gundewadi, Sachin A.J., Sampada Shankar
and Harish H Reddy

5 Effects of brassinosteroids application on quality

and storage of fruits
Nirmal Kumar Meena, Ram Asrey, Jitendra Singh,
Uma Parajapati, Kalpana Chaudhary and Arghya Mani

6 Packaging and Storage of Fruits and Vegetables

Bhupendra M Ghodki, Rishi Richa, Navin Chandra Shahi,
Manoj Kumar Mahawar and Kirti Jalgaonkar

7 Agri-Business as a tool to mitigate the risks of

post-harvest losses
Ritambhara Singh and Vishita Khanna

8 Quality of fresh and processed products

Amit Kumar Singh, Arvind Kumar Chaurasiya
and Surajit Mitra
9 Computer assisted sensory evaluation - A step towards
artificial intelligence in perceiving food and beverage
Venkata Satish Kuchi, Ch. Sai Ratna Sharavani and
Arghya Mani

10 The role of good post-harvest management practices

in the development of the agriculture sector in Ghana
Dickson Adom

11 Edible Coating on Fruits- A New Approach for

Shelf-life Extension
Arkendu Ghosh, Koyel Dey, Arghya Mani and A.N. Dey

12 Chitosan applications in postharvest life of

horticultural crops
Michael Alabboud, Fares Alhaj Alali and Arghya Mani

13 Effect of crop load and amount of fruit set on post

harvest quality attributes in fruit crops
Subhash Chander, Tanushree Sahoo, Lokesh Bora,
P. K. Nimbolkar and N.M. Kanade

14 Edible Packaging for Fruits and Vegetables

Jagadeesha Mulagund, Prashant Kalal and Sajana, S.

15 Association of microbial diversity with post harvest

crops and bioprospecting of endophytic
microorganisms for management
Shubhransu Nayak, Arup Kumar Mukherjee,
Chandan Sengupta and Soma Samanta

16 Current status of active and intelligent packaging

in food technologies
Payel Panja, Arghya Mani and Pran Krishna Thakur

17 Advances in post harvest handling of fresh

harvested commodities
K.Venkata Subbaiah, Manjula, R., Bharathi Devi, S.G.
Shali Raju and K.C. Bhanu Murthy
18 Advances in post-harvest treatments to improve
shelf life and quality of tropical fruits
Prashant Kalal, Jagadeesha Mulagund, Sajana S.
and Sachin A.J.

19 Post-harvest strategies of fruit and vegetables:

Challenges and opportunities
Fei Hu, Kiran Thakur, Jian-Guo Zhang and
Zhao-Jun Wei

20 Conversion of floral waste into wealth: a close

loop approach towards environmental
sustainability and waste management
Raghupathi B., Sweta Kumari and Amit Lohar

21 Post-harvest handling of cut flowers

Vijayakumar S, Shivani Singh, Pandiyaraj P. and
Sujayasree O.J.

22 Extraction methodology of essential oils from

ornamentals
Sourav Mondal and Madhumita Mitra Sarkar

23 Intelligent packaging of food

Sujayasreee.O.J, Arghya Mani, Hemalatha and
Fasludeen.N.S

24 Postharvest treatments to enhance vase life of

cut flowers
Varun Hiremath and Lakshmi Durga M.

25 Role of irradiation in post harvest management of

high value horticultural produce
K.Venkata Subbaiah, Manjula R., Bharathi Devi, S.G.
Shali Raju and K.C. Bhanu Murthy
26. A first Insight on Snake Melon (Cucumis melo
var. flexuosus): an underestimated source of
functional compounds
Riadh Ilahy, Imen Tlili, Thouraya R’him,
Hela Chikh Rouhou, Arghya Mani, Chafik Hdider and
Marcello Salvatore Lenucci

27. Melon Fruit: Functional Component and Allied

Health Claims
Imen Tlili, Henane Imen, Riadh Ilahy, Thouraya R’him,
Marcello Salvatore Lenucci and Chafik Hdider

28. Ordinary and Coloured Potatoes: Functional

Quality and Therapeutic Value
Riadh Ilahy; Imen Tlili, Thouraya R’him,
Khamassy Nouri, Arghya Mani, Chafik Hdider and
Marcello Salvatore Lenucci

29. Post-harvest Diseases of Fruits and Vegetables

Ritesh Kumar and Priya Bhargava

30. Plant Pathogens associated with Post-harvest

diseases of Fruits and Vegetables
N. Sumalatha and V. Suresh

31. Post-Harvest Insect Pests of Horticultural Crops

Sumalatha Javvaji, K. Manasa, Shalini Yerukala
and Suresh Veera

32. Post-Harvest diseases and disorders of Mango

Veera Suresh, J. Chandrakala, M.Raviteja and
N.Sumalatha

33. Post-harvest diseases of papaya and its management

Suresh Veera, Sumalatha Nallabeema, Shalini Yerukala,
Venishetty Punnam Chander, Shashanka Rao Dugyala
and Sumalatha Javvaji

34. Post-Harvest diseases and disorders of Potato

Veera Suresh, N. Sumalatha, V. Punam Chander
and B. Rani
35. Post-harvest management, processing and value
addition of mango
Tapas Sarkar and Nilanjana Datta

36 Maturity Indices of Flower Crops

Veluru Bhargav, Priyadarshini Salam, Narender Negi
and Swati Sahu

37 Maturity Indices of Vegetable Crops

Saheb Pal and Solanki Bal

38 Maturity Indices of Tropical and Sub-tropical

Fruit Crops
Tanmoy Sarkar and Arghya Mani

39 Maturity indices of temperate fruit crops

Arghya Mani and Tanmoy Sarkar

40. Pre-cooling in horticultural crops

Nandkishor Madhavrao Kanade, Sujayasreee O.J. and
Pradeep Kumar Vishwakarma
 771

40
PRE-COOLING IN HORTICULTURAL
CROPS
1
Nandkishor Madhavrao Kanade*, 2Sujayasreee.O.J and
3
Pradeep Kumar Vishwakarma
1,3
Ph.D Scholar, Division of Fruits Crops, ICAR-Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi.
2
Ph.D Scholar, Division of Postharvest Technology, ICAR-Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
*[email protected]

ABSTRACT
The importance of precooling can be clearly recognised as it is
portrayed as an intricate and essential part of the proper temperature
management of all horticultural crops. Precooling is in essence the
removal of heat or the reduction in temperature of the perishable
produce as soon as possible after harvest. This process slows the
respiration rate and minimises other decorative processes and thus
helps to maintain quality at a high level. Precooling in conjunction
with the proper storage or transportation allows for the extension of
shelf or vase life of the horticultural produce which results in more
satisfied customers at all levels of purchase. Within precooling a variety
of different techniques exist for use in the horticultural industry. Hydro-
cooling, vacuum cooling, room cooling, icing, forced air cooling, and
cryogenic cooling are the principal methods in commercial use at
present. Each of these individual techniques also have many variations,
leading to a great diversity of perishable produce which may be
precooled. As consumer awareness and sophistication are ever
increasing due to the growing fear of chemical residues and the
uncertainty surrounding genetically modified foods presently, and with
the change to organic products continuing, alternative techniques of
extending shelf life and maintaining high level of quality are being
772

investigated. Precooling is one of the techniques which adheres to

this ethos and should be applied widely throughout the entire
horticultural industry to attain its true potential.
Keywords: Precooling, field heat, perishables

1. Introducation
Pre-cooling is the key component in the preservation of quality
for perishable fresh produce in post-harvest systems. Pre-cooling is also
very closely linked to the other operations such as handling and storage.
The practice of pre-cooling fruits and vegetables after harvest has existed
for many years. In that time, several methods and techniques of precooling
were developed, primarily to meet requirements of the large producers
and markets. Postharvest cooling is essential to ensure that product quality
is maintained from harvest to retail. For kiwifruit, the maximum storage
potential is achieved when fruit is efficiently cooled to near 0 0C, shortly
after harvest [2]. Kiwifruit, kept at 0 C and 90–95 % relative humidity can
have a storage period of 3–5 months [3]. This affords market flexibility
and eliminates the need to transport to market immediately after harvest.
However, improper cooling can lead to hot or cold spots within the package
or pallet, and consequently quality loss in horticulture produce during
storage [4].
Although produce may be pre-cooled in a cold storage facility,
pre-cooling differs from cold storage. In cold storage, the temperature is
simply maintained at a predetermined low temperature. If the cold storage
facility is to double as a pre-cooling facility, higher refrigeration capacity
is required as well as appropriate provisions for pre-cooling and handling
of the produce.
1.1. Requirementof Precooling
Fresh produce starts to deteriorate immediately following harvest.
Respiration due to enzymatic oxidation in the growing produce continues
after harvest. This process results in the consumption of sugars, starches
and moisture without replenishment by the plant. Carbon dioxide and other
gases along with heat are generated in the process. If the heat is not removed,
the process is accelerated. Growth of molds and the loss of moisture from
the produce are also accelerated by heat. Bruising of the produce further
accelerates these processes, resulting in the loss of texture, firmness, colour,
flavour and appearance. In addition, some nutritional value may also be
lost. When these losses occur, the produce is generally considered to have
lost its freshness and quality.
 773

Pre-cooling refers to the rapid removal of field heat shortly after

the harvest of a crop. Field heat can be defined as the difference in
temperature between the temperature of the crop harvested and the optimal
storage temperature of that product. In general the temperature should be
cooled down till it reaches 88% of the existing difference in temperature
and its optimal storage temperature. Field heat should be removed as fast
as possible since, for most produce, an hour delay at field conditions of
about 35°C will lead to a loss in shelf-life of about 1 day – even at optimal
storage conditions.
Nevertheless, due to biological factors, the importance of rapid
pre-cooling varies. According to the Indian Board of Horticulture, especially
grapes, mandarins, berries, cherries, leeches, melons, stone fruits, sapotas,
okra, tomatoes, capsicum, chilli peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, green beans,
peas, and spinach should be rapidly pre-cooled, whereas other, less
perishable produce is made up of mangoes, papaya, guava, green bananas,
pomegranates, radish, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots. More detailed
information about adequate pre-cooling methods for various fresh produce
items can be found here.
Commercially important fruits that need immediate precooling
include apricots; avocados; all berries except cranberries; tart cherries;
peaches and nectarines; plums and prunes; and tropical and subtropical
fruits such as guavas, mangos, papayas, and pineapples. Tropical and
subtropical fruits of this group are susceptible to chilling injury and thus
need to be cooled according to individual temperature requirements. Sweet
cherries, grapes, pears, and citrus fruit have a longer postharvest life, but
prompt cooling is essential to maintain high quality during holding. Bananas
require special ripening treatment and therefore are not precooled.
According to the FAO, precooling is “amongst the most efficient
quality enhancements available” and is regarded “as one of the most value-
adding activities in the horticultural chain”.
1.2. Pre-Colling Benefits Include:
I. Lowering the required workload of a cold storage since optimum
storage temperature is reached more quickly
II. Restricting and minimizing respiratory activity, thereby
conserving the weight of the produce, and enzymatic degradation
of the produce harvested; thus preventing softening, water loss
and wilting
774

III. Preventing microbial growth, such as bacteria and fungi thereby

decreasing the rate of decay
IV. Decreasing rate of ethylene production and the impact on ethylene
sensitive produce
V. Delaying chilling injuries for certain fruits
VI. Increasing the daily intake into storage facilities which should
not exceed 10% of its cooling capacity if produce is not pre-
cooled.
1.3. Factors Affecting Selection of Precooling Methods
I. Produce characteristics: characteristics of produce, such as
chilling sensibility or the need for rapid heat removal, lead to
differing cooling requirements making methods more or less suited.
Products also differ in their flow capacity; the faster products can
be cooled down, the better. Some methods cannot be tolerated by
some fruits and vegetables, e.g. if they cannot get in contact with
water
II. Packaging: the way produce is being packaged makes precooling
methods more or less suitable
III. Scale: size of operations/amount of produce to be cooled
IV. Efficiency: depending on the circumstances some methods will
be more energy efficient than others
V. Skilled labor: methods require various levels of skilled and trained
personnel. The availability of such trained personnel has to be
considered
VI. Economic viability: the price of precooling methods differ and
have to be considered. This is true with regards to investment as
well as running costs, e.g. electricity. In general, the cost of the
pre-cooling method has to justifiable with regards to product
volume and the increase in product value in order to make economic
sense
Regardless of which method is used, the process should always be
monitored in order to ensure that precooling is achieved in the most efficient
way. Depending on method and product at hand, produce will cool at
different rates.
 775

1.4. Methods of Procooling

In general, there are three different methods to pre-cool produce,
using either air, water or the creation of a vacuum.
A. Forced Air Cooling
Forced-air cooling involves forcing refrigerated air through packed
fresh produce, via openings in the packages stacked upon pallets, by
generating a pressure difference across the pallets. Of the different air
flow systems available the tunnel cooler is the most common [1].
The typical operating conditions recommended in industry for the
forced-air cooling of non-polylined horticultural produce is a flowrate range
of 0.5–2.0 L kg1 s1 [5] and a pressure drop range of 60–750 Pa [1]. The
efficiency of the forced-air cooling process is determined by the rate and
uniformity of product cooling in comparison to the energy input required
[6]. The pressure drop across a pallet is also dependent on the vent area of
the packages [7,8, 9, 10, 11] showed that when the aerodynamic resistance
of packages of horticultural packages, undergoing forced-air cooling, was
lowered the energy requirement to maintain the airflow through the pallet
was reduced.
B. Room Cooling
Precooling produce in a cold-storage room or precooling room is
an old well-established practice [8. This widely used method involves the
placing of produce in boxes (wooden, ®berboard or plastic), bulk containers
or various other packages into a cold room, where they are exposed to cold
air. Typically the cold air is discharged into the room near the ceiling, and
sweeps past the produce. Field heat can be removed from an individual
bunch of unpacked cut flowers in 20 min by room cooling, the reduction in
temperature of packaged cut flowers is a slow process requiring two or
more days which is a relatively long period for a commodity with such a
short shelf life containers to return to the heat exchangers [12].
C. Hydrocooling
It is used because of its simplicity and effectiveness that
hydrocooling is a popular precooling method [18]. Hydrocooling essentially
is the utilisation of chilled or cold water for lowering the temperature of a
product in bulk or smaller containers before further packing. Identified
hydro cooling as being achieved by fooding, spraying, or immersing the
product in/with chilled water [13]
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D. Vacuum Cooling
Rapid cooling of horticultural produce can be carried out with
vacuum cooling. Vacuum cooling is achieved by the evaporation of moisture
from the produce. The evaporation is encouraged and made more efficient
by reducing the pressure to the point where boiling of water takes place at
a low temperature [19, 20, 21].
E. Cryogenic Cooling
The use of the latent heat of evaporation of liquid nitrogen or solid
CO2 (dry ice) can produce ‘boiling’ temperatures of -196 and -78 0 C
respectively. This is the basis of cryogenic precooling. In cryogenic cooling,
the produce is cooled by conveying it through a tunnel in which the liquid
nitrogen or solid CO2 evaporates. However, at the above temperatures the
produce will freeze and thus be ruined as a fresh market product. This
problem is prevented by careful control of the evaporation rate and conveyor
speed [22].
F. Contact Icing
Package icing involves direct placement of slush, flaked, or crushed
ice over the product in shipment containers. This method is efficient where
it is used; however, it can result in uneven cooling because the ice generally
remains where it was placed until it has melted [23]. Icing can be effectively
used to cool products such as collards, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli,
radishes, carrots and onions. Flowers may also be cooled by means of ice
cubes inserted into flower boxes in foil sacks. However, reported that icing
is less effective, since a much longer period is needed for cooling and
lowering flower temperature from 20 to 5C requires a large amount of ice
(i.e. about 25% of the weight of the flowers) [14].
1.5. Calculation Method
A. Heat Load
Total heat load comes from product, surroundings, air infiltration,
containers, and heat-producing devices such as motors, lights, fans, and
pumps. Product heat accounts for the major portion of total heat load, and
depends on product temperature, cooling rate, amount 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. [17].
B. Precooling Time Estimation Methods
Accurate estimations of precooling times can be obtained by using
 777

finite-element or finite-difference computer programs, but the effort

required makes this impractical for the design or process engineer. In
addition, two- and three-dimensional simulations require time-consuming
data preparation and significant computing time. Most research to date
has been in the development of semi analytical/ empirical precooling time
estimation methods that use simplifying assumptions, but nevertheless
produce accurate results. [16].
C. Fractional Unaccomplished Temperature Difference
The semi logarithmic temperature history curve consists of an initial
curvilinear portion, followed by a linear portion. Simple empirical formulas
that model this cooling behavior, such as half cooling time and cooling
coefficient, have been proposed for estimating the cooling time of fruits
and vegetables [16].
D. Half-Cooling Time
A common concept used to characterize the cooling process is the
half-cooling time, which is the time required to reduce the temperature
difference between the commodity and the cooling medium by half [15].
E. Cooling Coefficient
The cooling coefficient is minus the slope of the ln(Y ) versus
time curve, constructed on a semi logarithmic axis from experimental
observations of time and temperature [15].
1.6. Other Pre-Cooling Tips
a) Do not load pre-cooling facility beyond its optimum capacity.
b) When stacking produce, allow adequate air-circulation to ensure
all vegetables can be evenly cooled.
c) Use proper receptacles (such as vented boxes and baskets for
forced-air cooling, and waxed cartons or Styrofoam boxes for
hydro-cooling).
d) Transfer vegetables out from the pre-cooling facility immediately
after pre-cooling, to avoid overcooling or dehydration of the
vegetables.
e) Use potable water for precoolers to minimise any food safety
concerns.
f) Separate ethylene-sensitive vegetables from ethyleneproducing
778

ones.
g) If a chiller is used for precooling, keep it closed at all times to
minimise temperature and relative humidity fluctuations.
2. Conclusion
One of the most important factors affecting the postharvest life
and quality of horticultural crops is temperature. Quality loss after harvest
occurs as a result of physiological and biological processes, the rates of
which are influenced primarily by product temperature. As the maintenance
of market quality is of vital importance to the success of the horticultural
industry, it is necessary not only to cool the product but to cool it as quickly
as possible after harvest. The process of precooling is the removal of field
heat which arrest the deteriorative and senescence processes so as to
maintain a high level of quality that ensures customer satisfaction. . As
consumer awareness and sophistication are ever increasing due to the
growing fear of chemical residues and the uncertainty surrounding
genetically modified foods presently, and with the change to organic
products continuing, alternative techniques of extending shelf life and
maintaining high level of quality are being investigated. Precooling is one
of the techniques which adheres to this ethos and should be applied widely
throughout the entire horticultural industry to attain its true potential
3. References
[1]. Tadhg Brosnan and Da-Wen Sun. (2001). Precooling techniques and applications
for horticultural products a review. Int. J. Refrig., 24(2): 154-170.
[2]. Ashby B.H. (1995). Protecting Perishable Foods during Transport by Truck.
Handbook No. 669 USDA, Washington, DC
[3]. Simson S.P. , M.C. Straus (2010). Post-Harvest Technology of Horticulture Crops
Oxford Book Company, New Delhi, India
[4]. Verboven, P. M.L. Hoang, B.M. Nicolaï (2003). Modelling turbulent air flow in
cool rooms for horticultural products Acta Hortic., 599 , pp. 435-441,
[5]. Thompson, J. (2004). Pre-Cooling and storage facilities USDA (Ed.), USDA
Agriculture Handbook 66: The Commercial Storage of Fruits, Vegetables, and
Florist and Nursery Stocks, USDA, Washington, DC , pp. 1-10
[6]. De Castro L.R. , C. Vigneault, L.A.B. Cortez (2004). Effect of container opening
area on air distribution during precooling of horticultural produce Trans.
ASAE, 47 (6), pp. 2033­2038.
[7]. Delele,M.A., E. Tijskens, Y. Atalay, Q. Ho, H.Ramon, B.M. Nicolaï, P. Verboven
(2008). Combined discrete element and CFD modelling of airflow through random
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[8]. Ferrua M.J. , R.P. Singh (2009). Modeling the forced-air cooling process of fresh
strawberry packages, Part I: Numerical model Int. J. Refrig., 32 (2), pp. 335-348.
[9]. Van der Sman R.G.M. (2002). Prediction of airflow through a vented tray by the
Darcy-Forchheimer equation J. Food Eng., 55 (1), pp. 49-57.
[10]. Vigneault C., B. Goyette, L.R. de Castro (2006). Maximum slat width for cooling
efficiency of horticultural produce in wooden crates Postharvest Biol.
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[11]. Defraeye,T. , R. Lambrecht, M.A. Delele, A.A.Tsige, U.L. Opara, P. Cronjé,
P. Verboven, B.M.Nicolaï (2014). Forced­convective cooling of citrus fruit: cooling
conditions and energy consumption in relation to package design J. Food Eng., 121,
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[12]. Rij RE, Thompson JF, Farnham DS. 1979. Handling, precooling and temperature
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[13]. Athey D, Dennis C. 1991. Vegetable processing. Glasgow: Blackie.
[14]. Nowak J, Rudnicki RM. 1990. Postharvest handling and storage of cut flowers
florist greens and potted plants. London: Chapman and Hall.
[15]. Becker, B.R. and B.A. Fricke. 2002. Hydrocooling time estimation methods.
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 29(2): 165-174.
[16]. Fricke, B.A. and B.R. Becker. 2003. Comparison of hydrocooling time estimation
methods. Proceedings of the 21st IIR International Congress of Refrigeration:
Serving the Needs of Mankind, August 17-22, 2003, Washington, D.C. Paper
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[17]. Smith, R.E. and A.H. Bennett. 1965. Mass-average temperature of fruits and
vegetables during transient cooling. Transactions of the ASAE 8(2):249.
[18]. Luth B S, Woodroof J G, 1975. Commercial vegetable processing. Connecticut:
AVI Publishing Company.
[19]. Turk R, Celik E. 1993. The effects of vacuum precooling on the half cooling period
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[20]. Anon. 1981Vacuum cooling for fruits and vegetables. Food Processing Industry;
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[21]. Thompson AK. 1996. Postharvest technology of fruit and vegetables. London:
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[22]. Gormley TR. 1990. Chilled foods: the state of the art. New York: Elsevier Applied
Science,. p. 1±36
[23]. Hardenburg RE, Watada AE, Wang CY 1986. The commercial storage of fruits
vegetables, and florists and nursery stocks. USDA Agricultural Handbook,. p. 66.
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