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Fruits > Apple
After the harvest, all the fruits are washed
to remove the latex, sooty mould and surface debris.
Fruits free from defects should be sorted out
and the remaining fruits are graded according
to their colour and size.
Packaging :
Normally the apples are packed in cartoon with
lids. Where staples are used care should be taken
to ensure complete staple closure to avoid fruit
damage. Corrugated trays are equally effective
as packaging material while transporting the fruits.
Use of such trays is cost effective due to its
reusability.
Storage :
Apples grown in the upper belts of Jammu and
Kashmir can be stored for 90 days under ambient
conditions whereas in lower belts they are stored
for 60 days.
Most apples maintain their quality when stored
at 1.8 to 0o
C with 90-95% relative humidity. However some
varieties are cold sensitive at this temperature
and therefore have to be stored at 3.3-4.4o
C. Fruit to be stored longer than 1 month benefit
from controlled atmosphere (CA) storage in terms
of retention of acidity and firmness and reduction
of scald incidence. Recommended atmosphere is
1-2% O2 + 2-4%
CO2 however
specialist should be consulted for concentration
of CO2 and O2
as the recommended gas mixtures varies with the
variety and the geographical area in which the
variety is grown. Apples can be stored with other
temperate fruits if they have the same temperature
requirements. Vegetables like cabbage and onions
should not be stored with apples as apples absorb
their odour.
Similarly fruits and vegetables sensitive to
ethylene at 0o
C should not be stored with apples.
Cool Chain :
Cool chain is essential during the transport
of export quality commodity all the way from the
farm to the customer. This helps in maintaining
the temperature inside the box at the same low
level as in the cold storage.
The various stages of the cool chain are :
- Coldstore at the farm.
- Refrigerated truck from farm to the airport
- Coldstore at the airport.
- Building up of the pallet in a coldstore at
the airport.
- Loading the aircrafts directly from the coldstore
in a short time.
- Cargo aircraft maintains coldstore temperature
in hold.
- Off loading direct into a coldstore in the
receiving country.
- Refrigerated truck to the customers.
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