Page |

Date:
Experiment No - 2

OBJECTIVE – To study about different methods of storage for fruits and vegetables.

Introduction
India's diverse climate guarantees the production of all varieties of fresh vegetables &
fruits. India’s global ranking in fruits and vegetables production is second after China. In 2017-18
produced 97.35 million MT of fruits and 184.40 million MT of vegetables (National Horticulture
Database). Fruits and vegetables are responsible for 92.3 per cent of total horticultural production.
However, around 2.1% production is used by processing industries; the remaining produce is either
consumed soon after harvest or stored for later use in fresh form. It is important for effective
exploitation of the export capability of fruits and vegetables.
Postharvest Losses
Fruits and vegetables are the living tissue and very perishable in nature, are subject to
respiration, water loss and cell softening throughout the postharvest system. The storage life of a
product varies with species, variety and pre-harvest conditions- particularly quality and maturity.
The magnitude of loss in fruits and vegetables are estimated at 35- 40% due to outrageous Post-
Harvest Management (PHM) (XI Planning Commission). The loss is not only in rupees invested
in production cycle but also wastage of work, energy and inputs. India wastes fruits and vegetables
every year equivalent to the annual consumption of the United Kingdom.
The high moisture content of the horticultural commodities accelerates the reaction
response making them highly perishable. Reducing the moisture content of the commodity to a
recommended level through drying or dehydration, could improve the shelf life, in spite of the fact
it disturbs the general texture and impairs the quality.
The impact of absence of sufficient storage facilities for fruits and vegetables after being
harvested leads to the reduction in the quantity of fruits and vegetables that get to the market that
also has an immediate impact on the distribution and consumption of the required amount for the
sound living.
Page |
 Page |

Storage consideration
There is scope to control storage life and quality of produce through postharvest
management of the two most important determinants: respiration and transpiration. Both need to
be limited but not stopped and proper control of temperature and relative humidity is the key to
maximizing storage life and marketable quality. Produce quality loss after harvest happens as a
result of physical, biochemical, physiological and biological procedures, the rates of which are
influenced primarily by product temperature at harvesting and relative humidity surrounding the
produce. Fresh produce needs low temperature and high relative humidity during storage.
Temperature
Each product handled has its own particular temperature requirements. The deterioration
of fruits and vegetables with time depends on the temperature, rate of respiration and stress caused
by harvesting and postharvest handling. Lowering the temperature of the product as quickly as
possible after harvest will maintain a high level of quality remaining attractive for customers. The
rate of spoilage increases by 2 or 3 folds with each increment in temperature of 10oC. By lowering
produce temperature as soon as possible after harvest generally within four hours the following
effects are achieved:
 Respiration rate is decreased.
 Water loss is reduced.
 Ethylene production is suppressed.
 Sensitivity to ethylene is reduced.
 Slow or inhibit the growth of decay-producing microorganisms.
In addition to helping maintain quality, postharvest cooling also provides marketing
flexibility by allowing the grower to sell produce at the most appropriate time.
Relative humidity
Maintaining high humidity around harvested produce reduces water loss, which would
result in decreased returns through poor quality (for example, wilting, shrivelling) and loss of
saleable weight. High humidity should be used with low temperature storage because humidity
and warmth combined favour the growth of fungi and bacteria. Although the relative humidity of
air increases when it is cooled, it is still necessary to check the relative humidity in a cool room is
satisfactory.
 Page |

Methods of Storage
Cold storage
Cold storage can be considered the main physical method for delaying or reducing biotic
and abiotic diseases and accepted to be the best system for storing the fruits and vegetables in fresh
form. Obviously, storage at low temperature is not an antifungal treatment, but its effects have
consequences able to reduce produce weakening, influencing both the host and the pathogen
simultaneously. Indeed, low temperature exerts its activity:
(a) Indirectly, by reducing the metabolism of the host, and thus delaying its senescence and
contributing to the maintenance of fruit resistance to fungal infection,
(b) Directly, by inhibiting or delaying the growth and enzymatic activity of the pathogens.
Moreover, low temperature prevents moisture loss from the host tissues and consequent
shriveling, which allows tissues to maintain a high level of resistance to pathogens as compared to
fruit kept in low moisture environment.
Cold storage is the one widely practiced method for bulk handling of the perishables
between production and marketing processing. It is one of the methods of reserving perishable
commodities in fresh and whole some state for a longer period by controlling temperature and
humidity within the storage system. Maintaining adequately low temperature is critical, as
otherwise it will cause chilling injury to the produce. In addition, relative humidity of the
storeroom should be kept as high as 80-90% for most of the perishables, below (or) above which
has detrimental effect on the keeping quality of the produce. Most fruits and vegetables have a
very limited life after harvest if held at normal harvesting temperatures. Postharvest cooling
rapidly removes field heat, allowing longer storage periods.
Having cooling and storage facilities makes it unnecessary to market the produce
immediately after harvest. This can be an advantage to growers who supply restaurants and grocery
stores or to small growers who want to assemble truckload lots for shipment. Postharvest cooling
is essential to delivering produce of the highest possible quality to the consumer.
Evaporative cool storage
This is one of the simple and effective methods for short term storage of fruits and
vegetables at farm level. This reduces shriveling, extend storage life and prevent losses during
marketing and storage. Such type of storage maintains high relative humidity with temperature
 Page |

nearer to wet bulb and thus reduces the weight loss considerably in stored fruits and vegetables. It
is one of the low cost technologies developed which can be installed anywhere and any time.
Though cold storage is the best yet, due to highly energy extensive, huge capital investment and
perennial power shortage, most of the small farmers find it difficult and are forced to sell produce
at distress price soon after harvest. Under these conditions the evaporative cool storage help the
farmers to get better returns for their produce. When water evaporates from the liquid phase into
the vapour phase energy is required. This principle can be used to cool stores by first passing the
air introduced into the storage room through a pad of water. The degree of cooling depends on the
original humidity of the air and the efficiency of the evaporating surface. If the ambient air has
low humidity and is humidified to around 100% RH, then a large reduction in temperature will be
achieved. This can provide cool moist conditions during storage.
Controlled atmosphere storage
Quality and the freshness of fruit and vegetables are retained under Controlled Atmosphere
(CA) conditions without the use of any chemicals. Under CA conditions, many products can be
stored for 2 to 4 times longer than usual. CA storage is a system for holding produce in an
atmosphere that differs substantially from normal air in respect to CO2 and O2 levels. Controlled
atmosphere storage refers to the constant monitoring and adjustment of the CO2 and O2 levels
within gas tight stores or containers.
The gas mixture will constantly change due to metabolic activity of the respiring fruits and
vegetables in the store and leakage of gases through doors and walls. The gases are therefore
measured periodically and adjusted to the predetermined level by the introduction of fresh air or
nitrogen or passing the store atmosphere through a chemical to remove CO2. There are different
types of controlled atmosphere storage depending mainly on the method or degree of control of
the gases:
Static controlled atmosphere storage: Product generates the atmosphere.
Flushed controlled atmosphere storage:
Atmosphere is supplied from a flowing gas stream, which purges the gases in the store
continuously. Systems may be designed which utilize flushing initially to reduce the O2 content
then either injecting CO2 or allowing it to build up through respiration, and then maintenance of
this atmosphere by ventilation and scrubbing.
 Page |

Evaporative cooled storage

Cold storage facilities is not suitable for rural or on-farm storage where the producer would
like to store the commodities for only a few days to accumulate sufficient quantities before
conveying them to the markets situated far off and in urban regions. Power availability and its cost
are additionally major issues, due to which the refrigerated storages for on-farm short duration
storage are not recommended. Hence, there is a shift in accentuation in cold storage to other
alternative storage systems. An alternative to maintain lower temperature in an enclosed chamber
has been a matter of prime significance under Indian condition. Evaporative cooled storage is one
such alternative system that has been studied broadly.
The evaporative cooled storage structure has turned out to be useful for short term, on-farm
storage of fruits and vegetables in hot and dry regions. Evaporative cooling is an efficient and
economical means for reducing temperature by 10-15o C and increasing the relative humidity of
about 90- 95% of an enclosure, and has been extensively tried for improving the shelf life of
horticultural produce which is essential for maintaining the freshness of the commodities.
Based on the principles of direct evaporative cooling zero energy cool chambers (ZECC)
have been developed. The main advantage of this on-farm low cost cooling technology are it does
not require any electricity or power to operate and materials required to construct this like bricks,
sand bamboo, etc. available easily and cheaply. It is a double brick-wall structure. The cavity is
filled with sand and walls of the chamber are soaked in water. Even unskilled labour can build the
chamber as it does not require any specialized skill. Small and marginal farmers can store a few
days harvest to avoid middle men
Modified atmosphere storage
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) has been defined as packaging of food ‘in an
atmosphere which has been modified so that its composition is other than that of air’. Modified
atmosphere storage also requires a decrease in O2 and an increase in CO2 or N2 but there is no
control of atmosphere at specific concentration. Hence, it differs with CA storage only in degree
and control method. Active MAP involves modification of the gas composition through initial gas
flushing or the introduction of a gas scavenging system within the package; in passive MAP the
gas composition is altered due to the combined effects of product respiration and permeability
(diffusion) of the packaging film.
Oxygen scavengers – iron powders- ferrous compounds, ascorbic acid
 Page |

Carbon dioxide scavengers – Activated charcoal, Sodium hydroxide, Calcium hydroxide, Lime
Ethylene scavengers – Potassium
permanganate, silicones.
Zero Energy Cool Chambers
Zero energy cool chambers are based
on the principal of evaporative cooling and
developed for short term storage of fruits
and vegetables. The raw materials used for
construction of cool chambers are bricks
(400 bricks) and river bed sand (10 bags) to
hold about a quintal of fruits and vegetables.
The floor of the storage space is made with
a single layer of bricks. The side wall is
made with a double layer of bricks leaving a
space of 7.5 cm between the bricks which
are filled with sand. The top cover of storage
space is made with gunny bags or khas in
bamboo frame structure. After the
construction, the brick, sand and top cover
of cool chamber are kept completely wet by
sprinkling water prior to storage. Sprinkling
of water once in the morning and once at
evening maintain the temperature (with ±
2°C internal temperature) and humidity (90
%) throughout the year.
 Page |

Conservation of zero energy cool chambers for on farm storage

In India quality deterioration of horticultural produce takes place immediately after harvest
due to lack of on-farm storage. Maintenance of low temperature is a great problem in a tropical
country. Refrigeration is energy intensive, expensive, not so easy to install and run in remote areas
and not always environment friendly. Due to lack of cold/cool storage space a substantial amount
of fruits and vegetables are lost after production. Considering acute energy crisis and lack of cool
storage facility efforts made to develop low cost/low energy cool chambers.
Construction:
• Select an-upland having a nearby source of water supply.
• Make floor with brick 165 cm x 115 cm.
• Erect the double wall to a height of 67.5 cm leaving a cavity of 7.5 cm.
• Drench the chamber with water. Soak the fine river bed sand with water.
• Fill the 7.5 cm cavity between the double walls with this wet sand.
• Make top cover with bamboo (165 cm x115 cm) frame and 'sirki' straw or dry grass.
• A thatch/ tin shed made over chamber to protect from direct sun or rain or snow
 Page |

Table Recommended Precooling Methods and Storage conditions for Fruits and
Vegetables
Relative
Fruits Temperature humidity Precooling Storage Ethylene
And F method life sensitive
%
vegetables (Days)
Apples 30-40 90-95 R, F, H 90-240 Y
Apricots 32 90-95 R, H 7-14 Y
Asparagus 32-35 95-100 H, I 14-21 Y
Avocados 40-55 85-90 - 14-28 Y
Bananas 56-58 90-95 - 7-28 Y
Beans, snap 40-45 95 R, F, H 10-14 Y
Beans, lima 37-41 95 - 7-10 -
Beets, roots 32 98-100 R 90-150 -
Blackberries 31-32 90-95 R, F 2-3 -
Blueberries 31-32 90-95 R, F 10-18 -
Broccoli 32 95-100 I, F, H 10-14 Y
Brussel sprouts 32 95-100 H, V, I 21-35 Y
Cabbage 32 98-100 R, F 90-180 Y
Cantaloupe 36-41 95 H, F 10-14 Y
Carrots, topped 32 98-100 I, R 28-180 Y

F = forced-air cooling, H = hydrocooling, I = package icing, R = room cooling, V = vacuum

cooling, N = no precooling needed. Sources: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Kansas
State University Cooperative Extension Service.
Page |
Page |
 Page |

CONCLUSION / WORK DONE: