STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What are some positive or negative consequences of harvesting perishable

crops before or beyond the right stage of maturity?

Answer:

Harvesting perishable crops before Harvesting perishable crops after the

the right stage of maturity right stage of maturity consequences
consequences
Positive Negative Positive Negative
Harvesting early can be Lower yield, An overripe and Increased disease
carried out to take quality, partially or fully pressure/disease
advantage of sugar/starch deteriorated fruit is susceptibility
opportunities for high content and what we anticipate Lower yield and
prices. weight. if we are after the poor quality,
Applicable when the seeds. perhaps due to
crops are to be exported deterioration or
or to be transferred. over-ripening.
When the crop reaches
its destination, it is
expected that the crop is
still fresh or has not
undergone deterioration.

2. Differentiate climacteric from non-climacteric fruits.

Climacteric Fruits: Climacteric fruit are characterized by a ripening-associated

increase in respiration and in ethylene production, the phytohormone ethylene being the
major trigger and coordinator of the ripening process (e.g tomato, apple, and melon).

Non-climacteric Fruits: Non-climacteric fruits, are characterized by the lack of

ethylene-associated respiratory peak and the signaling pathways that drive the ripening
process remain elusive (e.g grape, orange and pineapple).
3. Discuss why dropped banana fruits undergo faster ripening than properly-
handled banana fruits.

Answer: The hastening of the ripening in damaged banana fruits is due to the increase
of respiration rate associated with mechanical injury as well as the increase in ethylene
production. Ethylene is a phytohormone that is associated with the ripening of the fruits.
Properly-handled banana fruits have no or less damages, thus the ethylene production
rate is slower compared to the damaged fruits.

4. What is a flower preservative? How does it prolong the vaselife of flowers?

Answer: Flower preservative is a solution consisting of water, acid or biocide, and sugar
for the flowers during the display period. Biocides are chemicals that kill the bacteria,
yeasts and fungi that feed on the sap that seeps from the cut flower stem. Without these
biocides, the bacteria would plug the tiny straw-tubes that conduct water to the flower.
As a result, buds fail to open, necks weaken and bend, and leaves wilt. The acid helps
water move up the stem more easily and the sugar acts as a food for the flowers.

5. What is the principle underlying each of the following postharvest technologies

in maintaining the freshness/quality of many perishable crops?

a. Modified atmosphere (MA) technology

Answer: Shelf lives of perishable products are limited by biochemical changes in the
product atalyzed by exposure to the normal atmosphere (21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen
and less than 0.1 % carbon dioxide) and growth of spoilage (Blakistone, 2012).
Generally, modified atmosphere technology aims to isolate the commodities from the
normal composition of air, that is, it involves packaging of commodities so that the
atmosphere inside is different from the outside. Modified atmospheres extend the shelf
life of foods by inhibiting chemical, enzymatic and microbial spoilage. This allows
preservation of the fresh state of the food without the temperature or chemical
treatments used by other techniques in extending shelf life such as freezing, canning,
dehydration and other processes. For an instance, in vacuum packaging (a form of MA),
reduction of oxygen delays oxidative reactions such as browning reactions occurring in
cut surfaces of fresh fruits and vegetables by the action of polyphenol oxidase
(Blakistone, 2012). In addition, MA storage has been demonstrated to reduce the
respiration rate of fruit and vegetables in certain circumstances (Thompson, 2010)

b. Storage in clay jar or sawdust

Answer: Storage in clay jar or sawdust prevents moisture loss of the commodities, thus
prolonging the shelf life. It is an evaporative cooling technique which works on the
principle that when the produce is near source of water, the heat given off by the
produce during respiration is used in evaporating the surrounding water, causing a
decrease in temperature and an increase in relative humidity of the atmosphere
surrounding the commodity. In this method however, the storage material (e.g. peat,
sawdust) moisture content must be moist, but not too wet. Physiological deterioration
will occur if the material is too dry while microbial decay will accelerate if the material is
too wet (Rees et al, 2012).
6. Explain the expected and actual results obtained from the experiments conducted.

Worksheet 8a.

A. Storage of perishables in moist sawdust/clay jar

Table 1. Quality evaluation of eggplant/tomato stored in sawdust/clay jar at Day 0.

Treatment VQR Shrivelling index Initial weight (g)

Control 8 1 250

Sawdust 8 1 250

Table 2. Quality evaluation of eggplant/tomato stored in sawdust/clay jar at Day 3.

Shrivelling Weight loss

Treatment VQR Weight (g)
index (%)
Control 7 1 250 0

Sawdust 5 2 250 0

Table 3. Quality evaluation of eggplant/tomato stored in sawdust/clay jar at Day 6.

Shrivelling Weight loss

Treatment VQR Weight (g)
index (%)
Control 6 1 200 20

Sawdust 4 3 200 20
Discussion:

As seen from the results tabulated in the worksheet 8a.1, the storage of produce
using sawdust was indeed unremarkable in extending the shelf life of produce, tomato
for this case. A control set-up was made in order to have a good comparison between
the tomatoes that was subjected to storage using sawdust and the tomatoes that was
not subjected to any storage techniques or practices. A quality rating from 1 to 4 was
devised to describe the changes, specifically the changes due to shrivelling, the
tomatoes had been displaying. The deviation between the two set-ups was prominent
after six days. After six days, they both exhibit the same weight loss (20%). However,
the two set-ups differed in visual quality rating and shriveling index. It was noted in the
Table C that the majority of the tomatoes in control set-up remained fresh; only three
tomatoes undergone slight shrivelling. While those treatment under sawdust storage
set-up were found to deteriorate and ripened early and thus obtaining a low VQR and
high shriveling index. Therefore, sawdust storage is somehow not efficient and is not
recommended for storing perishable crops since it does not prolong the storage life and
maintaining the quality of perishables

B. Modified atmosphere (MA) storage of perishables

Table 4. Quality evaluation of banana/tomato stored under MA packaging at Day 0.

Treatment VQR Color index Diseased Initial weight (g)

Control 9 1 None 250

MA-packaged 9 1 None 250

Table 5. Quality evaluation of banana/tomato stored under MA packaging at Day 3.

Weight
Treatment VQR Color index Diseased Weight (g)
Loss (%)
Control 3 3 Wilting 100 60%

MA-packaged 6 2 Wilting 200 20%

Table 6. Quality evaluation of banana/tomato stored under MA packaging at Day 6.

Weight
Treatment VQR Color index Diseased Weight (g)
Loss (%)
Control 1 4 Wilting 50 80%

MA-packaged 3 3 Wilting 200 20%

Discussion:

It has been indicated that the shelf lives of perishable products are limited by
biochemical changes in the product catalysed by exposure to the normal atmosphere
(21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and less than 0.1 % carbon dioxide) and growth of spoilage
(Blakistone, 2012). Modified atmosphere storage aims to isolate the commodities from
the normal composition of air which involves packaging of commodities so that the
atmosphere inside is different from the outside. The actual results of the experiment
follows to the anticipated results which are explained by the principles behind modified
atmosphere storage. The sixth day of the experiment sums up the results which clearly
shows that the tomatoes placed inside modified atmosphere displayed considerably low
weight loss values compared to the tomatoes in the control set-up. It was indeed
effective to prolong the shelf life of the commodities by isolating it from the normal
composition of air which speeds up the biochemical changes taking place in the
commodity.
 C. Low Temperature storage of perishables

Treatment VQR Writing index Color Index Initial Weight (g)

EX MA EX MA EX MA EX MA
Ambient
9 9 1 1 1 1 250 250
temp.
Cold temp. 9 9 1 1 1 1 250 250
Table 7. Quality evaluation of pechay subjected to different treatments at Day 0.

Writing Weight Loss

Treatment VQR Color Index Weight (g)
index (%)
EX MA EX MA EX MA EX MA EX MA
Ambient
3 3 3 2 3 2 125 250 50% 0%
temp.
Cold temp. 5 6 2 2 3 2 140 240 44% 4%
Table 8. Quality evaluation of pechay subjected to different treatments at Day 3.

Table 9. Quality evaluation of pechay subjected to different treatments at Day 6.

Writing Weight Loss

Treatment VQR Color Index Weight (g)
index (%)
EX MA EX MA EX MA EX MA EX MA
Ambient
1 2 4 3 4 3 85 220 66% 12%
temp.
Cold temp. 2 3 3 3 3 2 120 240 52% 4%

Discussion:
 In order to come up with a good comparison of produce subjected to another
storage technology against produce that is not subjected to any of the storage practices
or techniques, a visual quality rating was devised. This VQR gauges the quality of the
produce in relation with the marketability. To sum up the results, at the sixth day of the
experiment, data revealed that the pechay that was stored in cold temperature was able
to maintain freshness up to the degree that there are still some consumers that would
buy the pechay. The wilting and color indices of the pechay in cold storage are still
within the range consumers’ acceptance. While those pechays which were subjected to
ambient temperature possessed severe wilting and yellowing of the leaves which may
not be within the consumers’ preferences. The weight loss that was garnered in pechay
which was stored in cold temperature is only 52% to 4%, considerably lower than that of
pechay that was intentionally left in ambient temperature which ranges from 66% to
12%. Therefore, it is advisable to store perishable crops in a low temperature storage to
preserve crops’ degree of freshness than keeping them under ambient temperature
which may result to early ripening and deterioration.

References:

Blakistone, B. (2012). Principles and applications of modified atmosphere packaging of

foods (2nd ed., p. 1, 7). London: Springer Science & Business Media.

Flowers: Preserving Fresh Cut Flowers--Naturally. (n.d.). Retrieved May 6, 2015, from
http://www.plantea.com/cutflowers.htm

Rees, D., Farrell, G., & Orchard, J. (2012). Crop post-harvest science and technology:
Perishables (p. 403). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

Thompson, A. (2010). Controlled atmosphere storage of fruits and vegetables (2nd ed.,
p. 11). Oxon: CAB International.
 AGRI 32

LABORATORY
EXERCISE NO. 8A
Postproduction Practices:
Postharvest Handling of
Perishables

Jethro M. Miñano

2018-04661
BS Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering