Advances in cooling technologies to preserve horticultural produce

Publication date: 20/01/2020
Extent: 28 pages

Contributions by: J. R. Olatunji and A. R. East, Massey University, New Zealand

Chapter synopsis: Fruit and vegetables are living organisms that continue to respire after harvest, deteriorating over time, in a process known as senescence. Although it is impossible to halt senescence, removing the field-heat, and reducing the temperature of the product at the time of harvest, has substantial effects on maintaining product integrity. Cooling is the first ‘cool’ stage of the horticultural cool-chain, and is designed to rapidly and efficiently reduce the product temperature from the field temperature (often 20-30°C, depending on local conditions) to storage temperature (usually between 0-15°C, depending on the specific product. This chapter provides a review of the state of the art of produce cooling with emphasis on the recent developments in this field.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2019.0055.01