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Modification And Performance Evaluation Of A Cold Room Storage Structure
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2.3 Storage Guidelines for Fruit and Vegetable
Cold storage of fruit and vegetables was used extensively by our ancestors to keep food after the harvest season. In modern times, the year round availability of fresh produce in the supermarket has reduced the use of home storage. However, even today they are benefits of home storage, which make it a good alternative to buying produce from the store. Most importantly, home gardeners often have excess fruit and vegetable that cannot be consume immediately but would store well. Even those without gardens can buy food “in seasonâ€when it is fresh and expensive and then store it at home until a later date. Both these option are cheaper than buying food in the winter when it is often it is expensive. In addition, store food harvested at peak maturity from the garden usually has better flavor and a high nutritional value. (Isenberg 2004).
When harvesting your own produce for storage, or buying it locally in seasons, there are certain guideline to follow which assure maximum quality and minimum spoilage of your store food.
i. Harvest fruit and vegetable at peak maturity or as near as possible.
ii. Only used produce that is free from all visible evidence of disease.
iii. Do not pick fruit and vegetable that have insect damage.
iv. Handling food carefully after harvest so that it is not cut or bruised
v. Leave an inch or move of stem or most vegetable to reduce water loss and prevent infection.
vi. Use late maturing varieties better suited to storage
In general, use only the best food for storage. Damage food is more likely to suffer mold and bacteria decay during storage and thus should be used fresh, processed and discarded. (Isenberg, 2004).
2.4 Heat Load Factor Normally Considered in Cold Storage Design
According to Rolle (2006) the following heat load factor normally considered in cold storage design:
i. Wall, floor and ceiling heat gain from solar radiation due to conductions.
ii Product load from incoming good heat of respiration from stored product.
iii. Cooler fan load, light load, of equipment.
iv Miscellaneous load, if any.
2.5 Expected Storage Life
Expected storage life depends mainly on storage temperature and does not necessary mean the maximum for which the food can be stored without any regard to loss in quality but is the greater length of time for which the bulk of the produce may be stored either with maximum commercially acceptable loss of quality and nutritive value of with maximum acceptance wastage by spoilage (Priyanka, 2014).
The deterioration of a product starts during the harvesting operation. The more carefully a product is handled, the slower the deterioration process during subsequent handling operations. However, the farmers may be unaware or indifferent to the condition of the product after harvest, and harvesting procedures may thus be rather careless. The general problems for each fruit and vegetable group are summarized in the table below.
2.6 Factors Affecting the Performance of Storage Structure
i. Temperature: The foodstuff temperature should be kept as constant as possible for the whole period of storage. For some kind of produce a variation of about +10c may have serious consequences on storage life. chilled storage of perishable produce is normally carried out at a temperature between 1.5 and + 100c, thus, when planning condition for long term storage a temperature of no more than 10 in the circulation air should be aimed at, together with a short¬-term fluctuation of less than 0.50 (Adewunmi,2013).
Fluctuation in temperature often cause condensation or moisture on stored products, which is undesirable because it may favor the growth of microorganisms in the case of fruit and vegetable, the growth of mould and the development of decay. Temperature variation can be minimized if the storage room is well insulated and has adequate refrigeration and if the spread between the temperature of the refrigeration and that of the room to be refrigerated is kept small proper stacking, adequate air circulation and appropriate design of the package help to minimize temperature fluctuations.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACT The cold storage structure was modified and evaluated for the storage of fruits and vegetables at the department of agricultural and bio-environment engineering of Kwara State polytechnic, Ilorin; the cold storage structure consists of the following components; compressor, evaporator, condenser, accumulator, dryer, etc. the variable factors are temperature and relative humidity. The cold storage structure was tested with the following fruits; watermelon, cucumber, tomatoes and app ... Continue reading---
APPENDIX A - [ Total Page(s): 4 ]APPENDIX B: RAW VALUES OBTAINED FROM PHYSIOLOGICAL WEIGHT LOSS4.2 Output Parameters Result ... Continue reading---
LIST OF TABLES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF TABLESTABLESDescription2.1 General problems of each fruits and vegetables group at each handling3.1 Bill of engineering measurement and evaluation ( BEME)4.1 Average weight and temperature of samples both in cold storage and ambient condition4.2 Average value of physiological weight loss of samples4.3 Data obtained from cold storage and ambient temperature against time ... Continue reading---
LIST OF FIGURES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF FIGURESFIGURES Description4.1 Effect of weight loss on daily time for okro4.2 Effect of weight loss on daily time for pear4.3 Effect of weight loss on daily time for water leaf4.4 Effect of weight loss on daily time for bell pepper4.5 Effect of temperature against time interval in the cold storage and under ambient condition ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF CONTENTS - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]TABLE OF CONTENTSTitle Page Certification Dedication Acknowledgement Abstract Table of ContentCHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION1.1 Background of the Study 1.2 Problems Statement 1.3 Aims and objective of the project 1.4 Justification of the Project 1.5 The Scope of the Project Work CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION1.1 Background of the Study Fruits and vegetables are of great nutritional value. They are important sources of vitamins and minerals thus, essential components of human diet. Consequent upon this, there had been increased trade or commerce activities surrounding these commodities. Vegetable production forms a substantial percentage about 25% of the major food crops cultivated in the tropics and so it is the source of livelihood for a considerable section of the pop ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 6 ]CHAPTER THREEMATERIALS AND METHOD3.1 Modified Area on the cold Storage. The following areas were modified on the cold storage structure in order to improve its performance. i. Compressor: the existing compressor was 1.5hp and was replaced with 2.0hp to improve the capacity of the evaporator ii. Capacitor: 30uf capacitor was replaced with 50uf capacitor to enhance the effectiveness of the 2.0hp compressor. iii. Condenser: 0.5hp condenser was added to the existing 2.0hp ma ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FOUR - [ Total Page(s): 5 ]The result obtained from the effect of weight loss on daily time for bell Pepper, it was revealed that the rate weight loss under ambient condition is high the rate of weight loss in the cold storage structure is low.The result shows that the temperature in the cold storage decrease with time interval while the ambient temperature very with time interval depending to the atmospheric condition.Cooling rate:- this is determine by plot of temperature against time. ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FIVE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]CHAPTER FIVECONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION5.1 CONCLUSION A cold storage system was modified for performance and the following conclusion were drawn; The percentage weight loss (PWL) varied between 0 – 41.7% . Maximum weight loss was found in ambient condition where as minimum (0.06%) was found in the cold storage system. The percentage weight loss was found increased with increase in storage period for both cold storage system and ambient condition, The minimum tem ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]REFERENCESAbubakar(2006) Storage Crops Require low Temperature and Humidity (80 to 90) Adebayo, M. F. (2015). Modification and Performance Evaluation of a Cold Room Storage Structure. Unpublished HND project, Department of Agric Engineering, Kwara State Polytechnic, IlorinAdebisi et al,(2009) Evaporative Cooling for the Storage of Fruit and Vegetable.Adewumi (2013) Temperature Affecting Performance of Cold Storage System.Anon, A. (2000).Recommendation for Chilled of Perishable Produce Internatio ... Continue reading---
