Studies on Pre-Cooling of Tomato

摘要

Precooling involves rapid removal of field heat from freshly harvested fruits and vegetables prior to loading for transport to market before storage. Low temperatures slow down the metabolic processes such as respiration and transpiration, and delay the development of post-harvest diseases by inhibiting host ripening. In the present study an evaporative cooler was developed. The performance of the same was tested for various cooling pad material, airflow and water flow rates. Among the pad material tested, plywood scratches performed well. Tomatoes pre-cooled in the evaporative cooler and stored in plywood box insulated container had a shelf life of two days more than the tomatoes kept without pre-cooling.