State of Israel Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

DevelopmentPlant Protection & Inspection Services (PPIS)

Preparation of fruit and vegetables for the fresh Preparation of fruit and vegetables for the fresh market market

Preparation of fruit and vegetables for the market

In-field packing

Packing in a packing house

Field packing

Harvest and packaging into the final package are made in the field

Advantages of field packing

Eliminates product handling

Less time between picking and cooling

Eliminates the expense of having a packing house

Disadvantages of field packing

Mechanical grading and sorting can not be done

Quality control is more difficult

Post harvest treatments can not be applied

Workers are working in less comfortable environment

Harvesting for central packing house

Field bins upon arrival to packing house

Packed fruit ready for shipment

It is critical to protect the fruit and avoid dropping it into buckets or bins

fruit picked into buckets usually transferred to field bins

Wooden field bins must be protected with plastic liners to avoid rubbing and abrasion injury

Field bins need periodic washing to remove soil and dirt

Field containers

Picking of table grapes

Picking of apples

Picking of apples

Hydraulic ladder for picking apples

Field containers at the packinghouse

Plastic field bins for citrus

Mechanical damage can occur during transport

Impact bruises occur when fruit bounces during transport

Overfilled boxes cause compression bruises

It is necessary to have suspension system on all vehicles

Improve farm roads for eliminating holes and bumps

On the way to the packing house

Transport of table grapes to the packinghouse Transport of sweet peppers

from the packinghouse

Transportation

Field containers

Plastic field bins

It is imperative to shorten the time from picking to cooling and handling of the produce as much as possible

Speed is important

Produce can warm up high above air temperature

Harvest early in the day

Shade product after harvest

Reduce time between harvest and transport

Avoid delays, ensure frequent trips to packing house

Temperature protection

Keep away from direct sun

Effect of sun exposure and position in box on field warming of cherries

38

32

27

21

16

C0

Box in sun Box in shade

Preparation of fruit in the packing house

Careful bin dumping

Dry bin dumping

Water dumping to reduce mechanical damage

Control of the product flow

Control decay in water dumps by sanitation (chlorination)

Bin dumping

Dry bin dumping of oranges

Water dumping of apples

Pre sizing

Pre-sizing of oranges

Pre-sizing for removing under sized fruit

To increase equipment capacity, product below minimum size need to be removed

Pre-sizers usually located after the dump

Fruit below minimum size directed to processing outlets

Pre sorting

Hand sorting to remove unpackable product (decay)

Cleaning and washing

Detergent wash (sometimes with soft brushes)

Clear water rinsing

Tubers and roots vegetables need cleaning to remove soil

Cleaning and washing

Detergent washing of oranges

Disease control

Disease control

Fungicide application must be in conformity with the law and regulations

Fungicide application in water tank

Fungicides incorporated into fruit waxes

Disease control by heat treatment (i.e. hot water treatment for oranges)

Waxing and drying

Wax coating is applied in order to reduce water losses and provide gloss (shiny finish)

Use only approved “food grade” waxes

The most common waxes are mineral oil-based waxes and natural waxes

The wax coating on the fruit must be dried up immediately after application

Waxing

Waxing of oranges

Drying

Drying oranges after waxing

Oranges after drying

The speed of sorting belt should be adjusted according to product quality

The number of sorters depend on:

- The product flow per hour

- The amount of diverted product (sub-standard fruit)

- The size of the product

Hand sorting: segregation of sub standard fruit

Training of workers - workers must be familiar with fruit defects and the segregation limits to avoid losses due to “under sorting” or “over sorting”

It is essential to ensure good working conditions to reduce worker’s fatigue

Avoid sorting errors

Segregation limit

Hand sorting

Segregation of sub-standard oranges

For each defect define the limit allowed for the specific class

Shamouti oranges - the limit allowed for each class

Mechanical sizers set apart the product by weight or dimension

Electronic sizers capture video image of each peace and calculate the volume

Video imaging can also detect color intensity and defects

Sizers must segregate product with required accuracy to meet size uniformity, marketing and legal requirements

Machine sizing and labeling

Sizing by weight

Sizing

Electronic sizer

Labeling

Labeling the fruit

Packing the product

Hand-packing operation

Used when operators can not afford the expense of packing machinery

Essential for products requiring extra care and handling (strawberries, peaches)

Further sorting while packing is possible

Sizing must be precise (oversized fruit will cause compression damage, undersized fruit will cause vibration damage)

Packing the product

Packing line of oranges

Packing the product

Delivery of empty boxes

Packing the product

Hand packing

Hand packed oranges

Mechanical packing and palletizing

Mechanical packing system deliver sorted and sized fruit to automatic fillers

Mechanical packing can handle large volume of product at high speed

Further sorting is not possible

Automatic palletizing reduce handling damage

Automatic palletizer

Automatic palletizing reduce handling damage

Mechanical packing and palletizing

Mechanical packing system deliver sorted and sized fruit to automatic fillers

They can handle large volume of product at high speed

Further sorting is not possible

Cooling and storage

The product must be kept in cold storage until delivery to the market

Cooling and storage

Cooling and storage is used for extending the marketing period

After packing product must be cooled

In some cases ethylene is applied to stimulate ripening or improving the color of the products

Delivery to market outlets must be done in cooling transportation

Transportation to the market

Refrigerated transportation to the market

A satisfied consumer

Thank you for your attention