Which precooling method do you used?
Precooling is a very important step in the postharvest stage of the perishable produce industries. Precooling means quickly removing the heat from freshly harvested fruits and vegetable to reduce the loss in quality of produce once it’s been packed. Higher quality and longer shelf life means more profits to produce.
Some benefits of precooling –- Reduce ethylene production.
- Reduce respiration which causes water loss and wilting.
- Restricts enzymatic degradation which causes softening of the the product.
- Reduces the amount of rejections due to temperature and spoilage.
- Shelf life of produce can be increased 3 times compared to not pre cooling.
- Hydro cooling – Which produce is directly cooled by child near freezing water. This cold water runs over the fruits and vegetables quickly dropping their temperature. The water is cooled either with ice or refrigeration system. Tis method is 15 times faster than air does. It helps prevent moisture loss in produce, ensuring that the fruits and vegetables will not dry out.
- Force air-cooling – Uses fan to pull cool air. This method is useful 75 to 90% faster than room cooling method. Parameters to be considered for designing – Humidity, ventilation, overcrowding and produce type.
- Ice cooling – Block ice is a common way to keep produce cool. Thin skin produce not recommended for this kid of cooling.
- Vacuum cooling - Quickest and cost effective cooling system for vegetable, flowers, meats and cooked food in vacuum chambers. Vacuum cooling uses vacuum and refrigerated system together accomplish this goal. After the produce is harvested and packed, it is placed on pallets for shipping. The pallet are loaded in vacuum tight chamber for process. The equipment drops the pressure inside the vessel by removing air through vacuum pumps. Once the level of vacuum reaches the flashpoint moisture and heat are removed from the product in the form of water vapor.
- Room cooling – Room cooling is simply placing your product to be cooled in room colder than the product for the required time to cool the product to the desired temperature.
Please let us know if that helps