Author(s) :

Sharifah Hafiza, M.R., Nur Azlin, R., Jamaluddin. M. A., Zainol Abidin. M. Z.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Cooling is one of the critical unit operations in the horticultural supply chain. Cooling shortly after harvest is called precooling. A mobile forced-air-cooler has been developed to visualize these precooling techniques. The mobile forced-aircooler with a dimension of 0.6x0.15x1.3 m was developed using an axial fan with five nylon blade impeller and a fan capacity of 1425 rpm. During experiments, five boxes of fruits were stacked in two columns in a cold room for the precooling experiments. The mobile forced-air-cooler was placed in front of the stacks to draw the cold air through the stacks via the ventilation holes. Another room cooling experiments were also executed concurrently as a comparison. The fruits were then stored in a cold room for four weeks. Durian reduced its temperature to 9 C from its initial temperature of 20 C, while pineapple reached 14  C from initial temperature of 25  C after 7 hours of precooling experiments. The trials did not able to reach the seventh-eight cooling time however the fruits had a similar quality of fruits with cold room cooling experiments. Nevertheless, the cooling profiles showed a lower curved than cold room cooling. Recommendations and improvements to reach the desired seventh-eight cooling time were discussed.

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