Lesson sixteen

Proper post harvesting procedures

Crop Specific post-harvesting procedures
Tomato Should be harvested in early morning, while fruit still green, and dipped in
water to cool further. Sorted to eliminate damaged or overripe fruit and
graded by colour so that slightly riper fruit will not produce ethylene that
will ripen the whole batch. Ripe tomatoes should be stored at 10 –15 °C.
Temperatures lower than that will cause chilling injuries because of the
tomato’s high water content.
Sweet potato, yam, Requires curing. Can be stored for 3–10 months using ventilated storage.
cassava,  dasheen The produce is sensitive to chilling. Needs dry brushing or washing but
must be dried before storage or the produce will spoil quickly.
Mango Picked when still firm and graded. Grading is vital; large fruit takes 2–4
days longer to ripen than smaller fruit does. If the smaller fruits are mixed
in with the larger fruits, they will cause early ripening and decay. Fruit
should be pre-cooled to 10 –12 °C. Keeping fruit in ventilated polythene
bags will prevent chilling injuries.
Leafy green vegetable Handpicked; selected for maturity and quality. Trimmed, sorted, graded
e.g. spinach and packaged in the field to reduce mechanical damage. Transported to
cold storage with minimal air circulation to prevent slow decay. Ethylene
must be avoided as this will cause decay. Spinach, which perishes very
easily, does not tolerate a low oxygen atmosphere and is routinely washed
and packed in ventilated polythene bags.

Processes for adding value to the crop produced

Minimal processing

Minimally processed products, also known as ‘ready-to-eat’ fruits and vegetables, have increased
in popularity in the past few years because of consumer lifestyles. The quality of fresh produce
cannot be improved by post-harvest technologies, only maintained. This means these products
must be of a high quality at harvest. Ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables need more care to
preserve their quality throughout their shelf-lives.

Packaging

The package must protect the produce from mechanical damage and poor environmental
conditions during handling and distribution. Consumers will see torn, dented or collapsed
produce packages as signs of a lack of care in handling the contents. Produce containers must be
sturdy enough to resist damage during packaging, storage and transportation to market.

Product transformation

Transforming fresh produce as soon as it is harvested is a good way to reduce losses from
overripe fruit. The sooner the product can be transformed following harvest, the better the quality
of the transformed product will be.

Freezing

Freezing retains the quality of products over long storage periods. As a method of long-term
preservation for fruits and vegetables, freezing is generally regarded as superior to canning and
dehydration.

Preservation to create products, for example, flour or chips Cassava, for example, produces a
gluten-free flour, which can be used as composite flour in essential foods such as bread. Cassava
root spoils rapidly after harvest. The post-harvest processing into high-quality flour and other
food forms such as fufu, garri and starch prevents losses from decay and aids long-term storage.

Labelling

Labels on food can add value to the product by describing appropriate storage methods to use
and recommended storage temperatures. Foods also have nutritional labelling, informing the
consumer exactly what is in the product and the energy value in kilojoules that it will provide.
Sell-by dates and consume by dates (best-before dates) inform both the retailer and the consumer
about appropriate storage periods.

Grading

Grading adds value to fresh produce as it prevents the unplanned ripening of products that are
badly packed together. Grading is a vital step in preventing postharvest losses, as batches of fruit,
picked unripe, will not spoil because of the presence of a more-ripe piece of fruit releasing
ethylene. In addition, it is easier to sell similar-sized produce, so grading helps the process of
selecting produce of similar sizes to package together.

Process used to prevent food spoilage

Cooling

Cooling keeps food at a low temperature. This process is useful for the short-term preservation
of animal products. Domestic refrigerators are usually kept between 1 °C and 4 °C. Most
disease-causing (pathogenic) bacteria require temperatures above 4 °C to multiply, so keeping
meat and milk in a refrigerator for a short period can prevent spoilage. Cooling also slows down
enzyme activity.

Freezing involves keeping food at temperatures below 0 °C. Meat and fish can be frozen and
stored at –18 °C to –20 °C. Freezing slows down enzyme action and the growth of bacteria, but
the formation of ice crystals in tissues can alter the texture of the product.

Micro-organisms are not killed by cooling or freezing, so microbial activity will continue when
the food reaches a suitable temperature.

Drying

Foods have been preserved by drying for centuries and this method can be used successfully for
meat and fish. When the water content falls below a certain level, the growth of micro-organisms
will stop. In parts of the world where the atmosphere is dry and the sun is hot, fish and meat can
be hung on racks in the air. Where this is not possible, drying is achieved by forcing hot air over
the products. When food is rehydrated, water is absorbed back into the food, but the texture and
taste will be different. The micro-organisms are not killed by drying, so spoilage occurs when the
water content of the food reaches a certain level.

Pasteurization

Pasteurization also preserves fruit juices, wine, eggs and cream for a short period. The process
kills pathogenic bacteria. The process kills pathogenic bacteria and reduces the number of other
bacteria that could cause spoilage, but it does not kill spores. Most pasteurization is carried out
by heating to 72 °C for 15 seconds. During the process, milk is passed through pipes that are
surrounded by water kept at just above 72 °C. This heats the milk, which is kept at this
temperature for the correct amount of time and then cooled rapidly to 3 °C. Pasteurized milk and
pasteurized juices should be kept refrigerated between 1 °C and 4 °C. The benefits of
pasteurization are that the nutritional content and flavour are not altered by being exposed to
these temperatures.

Ultra-high temperature (UHT)

UHT treatment exposes milk and juices to 132 °C for a few seconds to sterilise the products. The
milk is packaged into cartons, which are then sealed under aseptic conditions. Aseptic conditions
are conditions that are free from contamination from bacteria. The treatment ensures the product
now has a storage life of several months. The vitamin and mineral content is not changed
significantly.

Curing

Curing involves the preservation of meat and fish by the addition of salt, sugar, nitrates and
nitrites.

 Salt removes water from the food and from any micro-organisms, such as bacteria and
fungi. This slows down their growth.
 Sugar is added during some curing processes to give a pleasant taste. It can encourage the
Lactobacillus bacteria, which ferment the sugar, producing lactic acid. The lactic acid
stops the growth of other bacteria and gives the food a tangy flavour.
 Nitrates and nitrites are used in the preservation of meat and meat products. Bacon is
sometimes cured in this way. Bacteria are killed and the meat retains a pink colour and its
characteristic flavour. All smoked sausages are cured with nitrites before they are
smoked.

Smoking

Smoking is the preservation of food by exposing it to wood smoke. It is commonly used for fish,
meat and meat products, such as salmon, ham, bacon and sausages. Traditionally, it was a way in
which food was dried, often having been salted first. Now smoking is used mostly to add flavour
to the outside of the food. Wood smoke has a low pH and destroys bacteria. It may also contain
other compounds, called antioxidants, which prevent fats from becoming rancid. This is
important in the smoking of oily fish.