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Vegetables> Cauliflower
Grading
Damaged or diseased leaves should be removed
during grading. Curds with insect damage and other
defects should be discarded. The curds are graded
based on their size and colour.
Packaging
Normally the produce is sent to the market loose
or sometimes it is packed in gunny bags. However,
it is advisable to pack it in bamboo or wooden
baskets to reduce damage in transit. When packing
is done in gunny bags, the inner leaves covering
the curd surface are left intact and rest of outer
leaves is removed. When curds are transported
loose, most of the leaves with top portion are
retained and a few outer whorls along with damaged
leaves are cut off.
Storage
After harvesting and grading the heads are immediately
dispatched to nearby markets.
For storage upto 3 weeks, the optimum temperature
of storing cauliflower crop is 0° C with a
relative humidity of 95%. Storage of cauliflower
is generally not recommended for more than 3 weeks.
Wilting, browning, yellowing of leaves and decay
are likely to increase if stored above 5°
C. Slightly immature and compact heads keep better
than more mature ones. Cauliflower is very sensitive
to temperature fluctuations during storage and
such fluctuation causes darkening of curds. Exposure
to ethylene during storage will cause more rapid
leaf yellowing and abscission.
Controlled atmosphere (CA) is not recommended
because it induces off odours and flavours, which
can be detected only in the cooked products.
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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