Pre-cooling of Agricultural Products

Overview

Precooling refers to the rapid removal of field heat shortly after the harvest of a crop. Field heat can be defined as the difference in temperature between the temperature of the crop harvested and the optimal storage temperature of that produce. In general the temperature should be cooled down till it reaches 88% of the existing difference in temperature and its optimal storage temperature. Field heat should be removed as fast as possible since, for most produce, an hour delay at field conditions of about 35°C will lead to a loss in shelf-life of about 1 day – even at optimal storage conditions . Nevertheless, due to biological factors, the importance of rapid pre-cooling varies. According to the Indian Board of Horticulture, especially grapes, mandarins, berries, cherries, leeches, melons, stone fruits, sapotas, okra, tomatoes, capsicum, chilli peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, green beans, peas, and spinach should be rapidly pre-cooled, whereas other, less perishable produce is made up of mangoes, papaya, guava, green bananas, pomegranates, radish, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots.

More detailed information about adequate pre-cooling methods for various fresh produce items can be found here.

According to the FAO, precooling is “amongst the most efficient quality enhancements available” and is regarded “as one of the most value-adding activities in the horticultural chain”. Precooling benefits include:

• lowering the required workload of a cold storage since optimum storage temperature is reached more quickly
• restricting and minimizing respiratory activity, thereby conserving the weight of the produce, and enzymatic degradation of the produce harvested; thus preventing softening, water loss and wilting
• preventing microbial growth, such as bacteria and fungi thereby decreasing the rate of decay
• decreasing rate of ethylene production and the impact on ethylene sensitive produce
• delaying chilling injuries for certain fruits
• increasing the daily intake into storage facilities which should not exceed 10% of its cooling capacity if produce is not pre-cooled

There are several methods that can be chosen to precool produce. Which method is the most suitable choice depends on various factors of which some are listed below:

• Produce characteristics: characteristics of produce, such as chilling sensibility or the need for rapid heat removal, lead to differing cooling requirements making methods more or less suited. Products also differ in their flow capacity; the faster products can be cooled down, the better. Some methods cannot be tolerated by some fruits and vegetables, e.g. if they cannot get in contact with water
• Packaging: the way produce is being packaged makes precooling methods more or less suitable
• Scale: size of operations/amount of produce to be cooled
• Efficiency: depending on the circumstances some methods will be more energy efficient than others
• Skilled labor: methods require various levels of skilled and trained personnel. The availability of such trained personnel has to be considered
• Economic viability: the price of precooling methods differ and have to be considered. This is true with regards to investment as well as running costs, e.g. electricity. In general, the cost of the pre-cooling method has to justifiable with regards to product volume and the increase in product value in order to make economic sense

Regardless of which method is used, the process should always be monitored in order to ensure that precooling is achieved in the most efficient way. Depending on method and product at hand, produce will cool at different rates.

Methods

In general, there are three different methods to precool produce, using either air, water or the creation of a vacuum. Below each method and possible variations are shortly explained:

Shade

The simplest, most low cost and low technology option to reduce field heat is to move produce to a deeply shaded area directly after harvest. The temperature in packing houses, with roofs that are light colored or reflective, can reduce temperatures as much as 20°C.

Air cooling

Use of refrigerated air in a conventional cold storage room, a special pre-cooling room, a funnel cooler, or a forced air cooler. Air cooling can be subdivided in the methods of room cooling and forced-air cooling:

Room cooling: produce is put into a cold (refrigerated) room

Advantages	Very energy efficient if designed properly
Challenges	Very slow
	Produce has to be stacked properly so that the cold air can flow through the stacks
Adequate for	not for produce requiring immediate and rapid cooling
	fruits rather than vegetables
	not for produce which is stored in bulk bins or containers since the temperature of produce located towards the middle of the storage bin will increase because heat generation through respiration is likely to outpace the speed heat removal citrus, apples stored under controlled atmosphere conditions, which however, will not have optimal quality if this method of pre-cooling is used

Forced-air cooling: a fan is used to drive air through packed produce within a refrigerated room. The usage of the fan increases the cooling rate compared to basic room cooling. Produce should be packed and stacked in a way that allows air to flow through fast

Advantages	Faster than room cooling
Challenges	Time required for cooling depends on air temperature
Adequate for	Most widely used and adaptable form of pre-cooling
	Used for fruits and fruit-type vegetables
	avocado, cucumber, melon, pumpkin, banana, mango, coconut, eggplant, okra, grapes, orange, strawberry, brusselsprouts, grapefruit, papya, squash, carambola, guava, passion fruit, tangerine, cassava, kiwi, pepper tomato, cherimoya, persimmon, pineapple, pomegranate, litchi, breadfruit