Temperature

management

Cooling the harvested product

Temperature- the most important factor in maintaining the
quality of the harvested product.
Product temperature response:
Temperatures in the interim.
Low temperatures damage.
High temperatures damage.

Low temperature affects

The harvested product is transported in low temperature.
The ideal temperature:
For chilling insensitive product - just above freezing point.
For chilling sensitive product - slightly above the chilling
injury temperature.
The activity rate of various enzymes involved in the
metabolism of the harvested products, usually rises
exponentially with the increasing temperature.
By the Dutch chemist Van Hoff Chemical Reaction rate
multiplied any 10oC.
The value of Q10 decreases
with increasing temperatures.
(t2-t1 / )10

Q10 = )R2/R1(

Low temperature affects

Lowering the temperature inhibits the exhaustion of the
harvested product
Low temperature can delay the beginning of ripening in
climacteric fruits (Onset of ripening.(
Low temperatures slow the rate of ethylene production and
the response to ethylene.
Therefore, a prolonged exposure to ethylene is necessary to
start ripening processes at low-temperature.

Low temperature affects

Ripening temperatures- 10-30oC, usually.
Some pear varieties will ripe at temperatures lower than
10oC, but prolong storage in low temperature might inhibit
adequate ripening.
Maintaining products at low temperatures can inhibit
developmental processes in various products, such as
opening inflorescence of cut flowers, asparagus
lignification and loss of sweetness of peas.
Exposure to low temperatures may occur during
transport, storage ect.

Low temperatures injuries

Low temperature injuries

Freezing injury
Freezing injury is not due to disruption of metabolism similar to chilling injury.
Caused irreversible damage due to ice crystals created in the product.
Brief freezing of fleshy tissue affects the product.
Freezing temperature is different between the products, due to the content of
different solutes.
The products moisture content influence its resistance to freezing.
water are not available to create ice crystals in products with very low humidity
content.
Freezing: lettuce - 0.2oC, grapes - 2.0oC.
When defrosting in most products, the tissue is thaw, the texture changes
and water soaked areas appear.
Less sensitive products: a slow thaw of cabbage, onions and several varieties
of pear.
Acclimatization of different products to low temperature may reduce their
sensitivity to freezing injuries.

Freezing injuries

Chilling injury

Chilling injury is the result of temperatures higher than freezing

temperatures.
The injury is due unbalanced metabolism and damage to the cellular
compartments
Low temperature damages are divided into two categories:
Chilling injury and physiological disorders.
tropical and subtropical fruits are particularly susceptible to chilling injuries.
Chilling injury is the combination of temperature and duration of exposure.
Low temperature for a short time - may not develop any injury.
Low temperature for a long time - irreversible chilling injury may develop.

Chilling injury

Different sensitivity to Chilling injury may occur between varieties of the

same fruit, or a result of different growth region.
Sometimes the damage is visible after transition of the product to
higher temperature (shelf life) .
Typical symptoms of chilling injury in some products:

Chilling injury
Pitting- Collapse of cells beneath the surface, leading to
pitting and change of color. Might increase water loss.

Chilling injury
Browning- Usually appears around the fruit transport
organs ( e.g. xylem). Browning ,might be the result of the
action of the PPO enzyme oxidizing phenols released
from the vacuole as a result of the chilling damages.

Chilling injury
uneven ripening- early harvested fruit might not ripen
properly after prolonged cold storage.

Chilling injury
De-greening- Slowing the loss of green color even by
slight cooling.

Chilling injury
water soaking- exposure to cold of leafy vegetables and
some fruits like papaya.

Chilling injury
Increasing the sensitivity to pathogens- chilling injury
damage the cellular compartments and results the
release of amino acids, sugars, minerals and other
factors that serves as excellent substrates to pathogens.

Chilling injury
Development of off flavors, aftertaste and undesirable odors.

Chilling injury
Preventing Chilling injury
Cooling the product above its critical temperature.
Conditioning- exposure of the product to relatively low
temperature for a short time following by storage at higher
temperature may prevent chilling injury.
This method is effective in preventing browning of pineapple,
peach wooliness and plum internal browning.
Successful treatment to prevent chilling injury in nectarines and
peaches is a combination of intermediate heating and controlled
atmosphere.
Immersion in CaCl2 reduced low temperature breakdown (LTB)
in Jonathan apples.

The mechanism of chilling injury

development
Lipid hypothesis of chilling
Some lipids undergo changes at low temperature that affects
the physical properties of cell membranes.
As a result, membrane properties are affected, including:
membrane integrity, ions and metabolites permeability, and
the activity of membrane-anchored enzymes.
Later, there may be effects on the metabolism and cellular
compartment, leading to cell death and the known symptoms
of chilling injury.

Physiological disorders during cold storage

Physiological disorders during cold storage are mainly deciduous
(apples, pears), stone fruits (peaches, plums) and in most citrus.
The damage might affect only the surface of the product or the
flesh and core sections as well.
The metabolic process that results the damage is usually
unknown, and perhaps different symptoms caused by different
malfunctioning of the metabolic pathway.
Physiological response to cold damage have been studied mainly
on apples.
Most damages are developing during exposure to temperatures
lower than 5oC.

Physiological disorders during cold storage

Physiological disorders during cold storage

Factors affecting the susceptibility to the damage:
ripening stage at harvest, orchard treatments, the climate
during fruit development, fruit size, method of harvest.
storage methods for chilling sensitive fruit:

short storage period.

Gradual cooling at the first stages of storage.

Heating intermediate 20oC for several days during storage

reduced this disorder in apples and stone fruits, but
problematic in commercial terms:
It is difficult to quickly elevate the temperature in the storage
room with large amount of fruit.

Physiological disorders during cold storage

Prevention of chilling injuries:
Brief exposure to high temperature prevented:
Superficial scald in apples
Pitting in avocado, citrus and cucumber.
Brown spots in prickly pear.
Grapefruit - after harvest:
48 hours at 27-29oC, or 7 days in 21oC,
followed by storage at 10-16oC.

Physiological disorders during cold storage

Controlled atmosphere conditions:
Jonathan spots prevention, reduction of core browning and internal
breakdown of apples.
On the other hand, an increase of internal breakdown was reported
in controlled atmosphere storage due to: High humidity, lack of air
movement, accumulation of fruit volatiles.
Low oxygen levels and high carbon dioxide levels:
core browning in apples and pears.
off flavors- anaerobic metabolism.

Physiological disorders during cold storage

Fruit peel blemishes might affect its appearance and reduce
its marketability.
Internal blemishes - more commercially " tolerable".
It is possible to reduce these blemishes by chemical and
physical treatments, or by choosing less sensitive varieties.

High temperatures damages

Exposure to high temperatures:
Exposure to direct sunlight
Hot wind.
Heat treatment to prevent pathogens:
Immersion in hot water, evaporation,
and dry heat.
Enzymatic activity decreases in most
harvested products above 30oC, and
above 40oC are inactive due to
denaturation.

Additional use of different temperature exposures

High temperatures:
Prolonged exposure to heat of climacteric fruits
advanced fruit ripening, but delayed the color change.
E.g. yellowing of banana peel or redness of tomato.
The metabolism is disrupted over 35oC resulting in
impaired membrane integrity leading to cellular
compartment damages expressed as loss of pigment
and transparency of the product.

Additional use of different temperature exposures

Prevention of pests:
Essential to prevent their spreading to new areas.
Temperature treatments can prevent various insects in
fruits, vegetables, nuts, flowers and more.
For example, 125 minutes at 51.5oC prevents Caribbean
fruit fly in mangoes.

Additional use of different temperature exposures

Prevention of pests:
Low temperature - delay the development of pathogens including
bacteria and fungi and also delay the development of insects.
High temperature - short-term exposure is effective for pathogen
inhibition, for example:
3 seconds of steam (100oC) reduced decay in carrots.
Short exposure of mangoes to 55oC reduced decay.
Immersion of papaya in water at 49oC for 20 minutes reduced
decay.

Additional use of different temperature exposures

Conditioning
Conditioning before storage or marketing can affect a
variety of fruit traits such as increased firmness of
apples, delay of asparagus gravitropism, delay of
sprouting of potatoes.
Conditioning after storage can speed up germination and
flowering of gladioli bulbs or lily bulbs.

Additional use of different temperature exposures

Curing
Exposure to conditions that allow healing of wounds or the
development of a protective layer.
Brief exposure to high temperature after harvest:
potato - Exposure to 29oC for 5-7 days (80-90% R.H.)
accelerating the creation of periderm layer at the site of injury
which reduce decay.
Kiwi - stay in the shed for 24-48 hours after immersion before
storage.

the affects of temperature on

starch and sugar balance
Storage at low temperatures can affect the balance of sugar
and starch in various vegetables such as potatoes, sweet
potatoes, green peas, corn and more.

starchsugarCO2
Ambient temperatures:
starchsugar
Respiration decrease in low temperatures:

starchsugarCO2
Sugar accumulation begins at typical temperature critical for
the product: potato 10oC, sweet potato 15oC.

the affects of temperature on

starch and sugar balance
Due to the accumulation of sugar:
Inferior texture and sweetness in cooking.
Browning due to caramelization during frying.
Maillard reactions as a result of interaction between
amino acids and sugars.
Typically, raising the temperature to15-20oC returns the
sugar to its previous level.

the affects of storage temperature on

starch and sugar balance
high sugar content is desirable in corn and
peas.
Those are picked at early stage of maturity
(immature) when sugar content is highest.
Fast storage at low temperature is needed
to prevent acceleration of starch sugar
conversion.

The benefits of cold storage

Decreases the rate of respiration.
Low respiration rate long shelf life
Reduction of 10oC may decrease the
respiration rate by 2-3 folds.
shelf life increases by 2-3 folds.

The benefits of cold storage

Reducing water loss.

hot product has the largest water loss.
Fast cooling less water loss.
In some products the water loss during 1 hour in hot and dry
air is similar to 1 week in cold storage with high humidity.

The benefits of cold storage

Reducing decays.
Harvest temperature is optimal for many pathogens.
Low temperatures significantly reduces the development
of pathogens.in the product.

What are the heat sources?

Field heat (sensible heat).
Metabolic heat generated during the respiration
process (vital heat).
Passing heat conduction through walls, floors etc.
Heat exchange of air or leaks.
Other sources: lights, motors and more.

What are the heat sources?

47%- Field.
37%- The fans in the storage facility.
8%- Forklifts.
7%- Conduction through walls, roof, and air.
1%- lights, labor, and more.

Half cooling time

or 7/8 cooling time
Half cooling time - time required to reduce by half the
temperature difference between the product and the
environment.
cooling rate is higher as the temperature difference between
the product and the environment is larger, although halfcooling time remains constant.
Three cooling cycles of the product will allow cooling in 7/8 of
the temperature difference between the product and the
surrounding environment (1/2 1/4 1/8).

Heat removal

Conduction
Convection
Evaporation
Radiation

Cooling methods
Cold air
air is simple and accessible medium easy to move.
Low thermal capacity.
Ways of cooling with cold air:
Cold room.
Forced air cooling.

Cooling methods
Cold room
Cooling method which requires less cooling capacity
than other cooling methods because heat removal lasts
a relatively long time (e.g. overnight)
The product can be stored where it is cooled.
The process is slow.

Cooling methods
Forced air cooling
Much faster compared with
passive cooling (4 - 10 fold
times faster).
This method allows rapid
mobilization of the product
to the markets without
extensive use of the
storage rooms.
High cooling capacity
required to deal with heat
peaks.

Factors that affect the speed

and efficiency of cooling
Cooling capacity:
Improper cooling - air temperature may rise by adding warm
product.
The initial product temperature:
As product temperature is higher more time will take to cool it.
Air temperature in the storage room:
If the air temperature will increase especially towards the end of
cooling, the whole process would be prolong.
Air velocity over the product:
The air takes the heat from the product, therefore if there is no
movement of cooling air the process will be very slow.
Fan speed:
Cooling units are designed to cool efficiently.
doubling the flow velocity can cause cooling
to be 40% faster.

Uneven cooling
Product near cooling diffusers will cool quickly than
remote product.
product at the top of the packaging cools faster than the
product at the bottom.
space between the containers is important for air flow
and effective cooling.
The first product in contact with cold air would cool
faster.

Importance of packaging design

cooling holes at the packaging are required for proper cooling rate.
5% - recommended ventilation area.
Large ventilation holes are better than many small ones.
There is high importance for hole punching method and locatin in
the cardboard for achieving effective ventilation and to maintain its
strength.
Other packaging materials in the carton (plastic containers, for
example) will significantly reduce air flow and cooling efficiency.

Cooling sensing
temperature reading is recommended after a few thrusts
of the thermometer in the fruit depth to Equilibrate
temperatures with fruit.
Temperature measurement should be made in the fruit
which is expected to cool the slowest.
Typically, the warmest fruit is far from the fan and at the
bottom of the box.

Hydro cooling
The advantages of using water for cooling:
water has high cooling capacity (1kcal/kg/oC), therefore
water absorb more energy before the temperature rise.
water has high heat conductivity (5.2 cal/g/h/oC), therefore
there is faster heat loss to the water.
Use of water for cooling the product prevents loss of water
during the cooling process.

Hydro cooling
A wide variety of fruits and vegetables are suitable to cool in
cold water.
This is one of the fastest methods for cooling.
products which are not suitable for this cooling method:
products sensitive to free water : grapes, flowers and most
berries.
Products that can be cooled more efficiently with other
methods: for example, vacuum cooling of leafy vegetables.

Hydro cooling
Drenching
drip or splash of water through small holes.
The product passes under the stream and washed by water.
Applied directly on the product which in waterproof package.

Hydro cooling
Dipping

The product is dipped in cold water canal.

The product moves through the water stream or by conveyor belt.
Products with lower density than water should keep under water.
Some products are not suitable due to high risk of infections.

Factors affecting the cooling rate

Product Size
Larger product requires more time for cooling.
Barriers for direct contact with the product
For example, leaves that cover the corn slow the cooling
rate, due to air trapped between the leaves and kernels.
Waste of Leaves in the bin may reduce water movement.

Factors affecting the cooling rate

Water flow around the product
Sufficient water flow should match the refrigeration capacity.
Active circulation of water around the product will allow efficient
cooling.
Holes in the bin should provide efficient movement of cooling water.
Water temperature
Large difference between cold water and the product allow faster
heat transfer from the product to the water.

Cooling control
Do not assume a proper refrigeration!
Check the initial and final temperature in the fruit pulp.
A decrease the cooling efficiency:
Check the temperatures in the water tank and water stream.
If the temperatures are proper, increase the water flow or the
duration of contact between the product and the cold water

Factors that affect the cooling of the product

Maintaining the water without decay a daily change of water.
Primary wash of dirt from the product before dipping.
Prevent large debris from entering the pumps.
Use approved material to maintain sanitation.

Using ice for cooling

Advantages
Water has high heat capacity
(80 kcal/kg).
1kg of ice will cool about 3 kg of
product by 28oC.
by injecting a slurry (mixture of
ice and water) into the top of a
pellet of product it may take 3
minutes for cooling.

Using ice for cooling

Disadvantages:
Water resist packaging is needed (expensive cardboard).

Increase of weight for transportation.

The melted ice water may affect other produce at the

same shipment.

Vacuum cooling
The method is economical compared to other cooling methods
because only the product is cooled.
This method rely on tissue water loss.
The sealed container and should be filled to reduce free air.
Removing air from the container to create the vacuum.
The decrease of pressure drops the boiling temperature of
water.

Vacuum cooling principles

Evaporation of water requires a lot of energy (540kcal/kg),
therefore the transition of water from liquid to gas is cooling the
plant tissue.
water evaporate from product at field temperature when the
pressure decreases from 760 mmHg to around 40 mmHg
(atmospheric pressure is 760 mmHg).
At pressure of 4.6mmHg the water evaporate at 0oC.
Cooling of lettuce should maintain this pressure for 3 to 6 minutes.
Evaporation of water removes evenly a considerable amount of
heat from the product.

Vacuum cooling
Products suitable for vacuum cooling:
Leafy vegetables with large surface (e.g.
lettuce but not cabbage).
A large and bulky products may cool but
for a long time (even 2-4 hours).
Water loss:
For reduction of 6oC there is about 1% of
water loss. This may affect the quality of
the product and its value.
Reduce of water loss by adding water to
the product before vacuum cooling.
The water that evaporate first are those
added and are in contact with the product.
Vacuum release:
After cooling, it is important to release the
vacuum slowly in a controlled manner to
prevent damage to the product.

!High quality product