POST HARVEST HANDLING OF

BROCCOLI
 ABSTRACT
• Indonesia is a country which produces a lot of agricultural product
each year because of its good quality of soil and the tropical
weather. One of them is Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica)
• Broccoli is the most highly priced cole crop in Indonesia although it
is not extensively grown. It is rich in health-promoting compounds.
However, the amount of such compounds inevitably decrease along
with the storage.
• There are many things should be noticed to maintain the produce
quality after postharvest, such as the temperature along the
storage, shelf life, atmosphere composition and also proper
postharvest handling.
 Introduction of Broccoli
• Broccoli is a Brassica genus vegetable with high nutritional value due to
its richness in vitamins, antioxidants, anti-carcinogenic substance and
health promoting phytochemicals such as glucosinolate. Broccoli is also
proven as very important source of phenolic compounds and also
vitamin C. (Nestle 1998, Yuan et al. 2010 in Sabir, 2012)

• Broccoli is a highly perishable

vegetable that senesces quickly after

harvest and thus its postharvest life

is quite short due to yellowing,

softening, water loss, and decay.

(Sabir, 2012)
• Quality cannot be improved after
harvest, only maintained;
therefore it is important to
harvest vegetables at the proper
stage and size and at peak quality.
• In Indonesia fresh handling of
vegetables is still carried out by
traditional methods, especially
from the field to the traditional
market. It is treated without
hardly any sorting or grading
prior to marketing
 Literature Review
A. Grade and Standart
quality criteria
Heads of broccoli must be entirely green and all flower
buds must be completely closed to be desirable.
Size Grades
• Rukmana (1994) in Bafdar (2007) mentioned
quality factors for broccoli consist of curd
density, greenness, absence of blemishes,
and curd diameter.
Broccoli is graded into 4 size – grades,
respectively:
a. Grade 1 : 30 cm curd diameter
b. Grade 2 : 25 – 30 cm curd diameter
c. Grade 3 : 20 – 25 cm curd diameter
d. Grade 4 : 15 – 20 cm curd diameter
(Bafdal, 2007)
B. Postharvest handling of Broccoli

• Broccoli should be harvested when the curd is

firm/compact, has attained maximum size and the flowers
has not opened yet.
• Harvesting time is 50 – 60 days after planting depending on
cultivar (Rukmana, 1994 in Bafdar, 2007). The curds are cut
with a stem length of 25 cm and leaves left on the stem.
Post-harvest handling of broccoli consists of sorting,
packaging and storage. (Bafdal, 2007)
C. Storage of broccoli
• Refrigeration is the only known economical
method for long-term storage of vegetables.
• In lower temperature broccoli have longer
shelf life, about 10-14 days in 0 °C. In room
temperature, the flower begin to open and
turn yellow in 3 days. (Safaryani, 2007)
• The ideal pre-cooling and storage
temperature of broccoli should be carried out
at 0-5oC, 80– 100% RH. The recommended
storage and transit temperature is 0 – 2 °C.
(Bafdal, 2007)
 Discussion
Broccoli is defined as climacteric produce due to its
respiration ratio and ethylene production increasing
during senescense leading to yellowing of florets.
(Makhlouf et al, 1989 in Sabir,2012)
Color change start when flower begin to open and
turn yellow, this occurs whitin 3 days at room
temperature. Yellowing is related to ethylene
production by broccoli and the increase in the activities
of chlorophyll-degrading enzymes, such as
chlorophyllase, Mg-dechelatase or Mg-dechelation
 The ethylene production can be inhibited
by applying 1-MCP (1-methylcyclopropene) to
the commodity. It is structurally related to
ethylene and works as the competitive
inhibitor of ethylene by tightly binding to the
ethylene receptor in plants, thereby blocking
the effects of ethylene. (Sabir, 2012)
• The optimum storage temperature for broccoli
is 0oC -5oC and 80%-100% RH. The good
packaging also can prevent the water loss,
which can longer the shelf-life. (Sabir, 2012)
• Good package will limit direct contact
between commodity and the undesirbale
substance in the atmosphere.
• A good control of temperature, humidity and atmospheric
composition maximizes the storage life-span of a product.

• MAP (Modified Atmosphere Package) and 1-MCP (1-

methylcyclopropene) combined treatment prevented
losses of green color (chlorophyll breakdown), ascorbic
acid and total phenol content and these florets exhibited
significantly less weight loss at 0°C and 95% RH that
control florets. (Sabir, 2012)

• Therefore, combined treatment could be recommended to

use for maintaining the postharvest quality of broccoli
florets. (Sabir, 2012)
 Conclusion
• Broccoli is a highly perishable vegetable that senesces quickly
after harvest and thus its postharvest life is quite short and its
health promoting compounds can inevitably decrease during
the storage.
• A good control of temperature, humidity and atmospheric
composition maximizes the storage life-span of a product.
• Low storage temperature and good packaging in broccoli can
prevent the yellowing of the curd and longer the shelf-life.
The recommended storage and transit temperature is 0 – 5 °C
and 80%-100% RH.
• MAP and 1-MCP (1-methylcyclopropene) combined treatment
prevented losses of green color
 Literature References
• Bachmann, J. & Earles, R. 2000. Postharvest Handling of Fruits and Vegetable.
Horticulture Technical Note.

• Bafdal,N., Tjahjadi, C., Hong, S., Kim, D., Moody, D. S., & Pujianto, T. 2007.
Development Of Postharvest Field Technology For Fresh Exportable
Vegetables Produced In Indonesia. Joint Research Between: Padjadjaran
University and Korean Food Research Institute. Bandung, Indonesia.

• Cantwell, M. & Suslow, T. 2013. Broccoli: Recommendations for Maintaining

Postharvest Quality. http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/pfvegetable/Broccoli/
th
(August 29 2014)

• Sabir, F. K. 2012. Postharvest quality response of broccoli florets to combined

application of 1- methylcyclopropene and modified atmosphere
packaging. Journal of the Agricultural and Food Science. 21: 421–429.

• Safaryani, N., Haryanti, S., & Hastuti, E. D. 2007. Pengaruh Suhu dan Lama
Penyimpanan terhadap Penurunan Kadar Vitamin C Brokoli (Brassica
oleracea). Buletin Anatomi dan Fisiologi Vol. 15, No.2, Oktober 2007.
Laboraturium Biologi Struktur dan Fungsi Tumbuhan Jurusan Biologi FMIPA
UNDIP. Semarang.