Effectiveness of an evaporative charcoal cooler for the postharvest preservation of tomatoes and kales

Q3 Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Research in Agricultural Engineering Pub Date : 2020-06-29 DOI:10.17221/52/2019-rae

E. Ronoh, C. Kanali, S. Ndirangu

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

The preservation of fresh produce can provide rural households with better diets all-year round and income by reducing their deterioration. Promotion of low-cost temporary storage technologies requires evidence of their eﬀectiveness to attain conducive conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an evaporative charcoal cooler for the preservation of tomatoes and kales. The cooler microclimate and outdoor conditions were investigated by measuring the air temperature and relative humidity. During the study period, the maximum temperature difference between the cooler and the outdoors was found to be 9.2 °C while the maximum relative humidity difference was 36.8%. Due to the presence of light rain and, consequently, low solar radiation, the temperature and relative humidity differences were significantly reduced. Despite the light rain, the cooler still registered a maximum relative humidity of 83.5% and a maximum cooling efficiency of 91.5%. Overall, the cooler demonstrated promising results in terms of favourable microclimate conditions, the shelf-life and colour changes for tomatoes and kales.

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蒸发炭冷却器对番茄和羽衣甘蓝采后保鲜的效果

新鲜农产品的保存可以减少其变质，从而为农村家庭提供全年更好的饮食和收入。推广低成本临时储存技术需要证明其有效性，以获得有利的条件。因此，本研究旨在评估蒸发式木炭冷却器对保存西红柿和羽衣甘蓝的有效性。通过测量空气温度和相对湿度，研究了较冷的小气候和室外条件。研究期间，冷却器与室外最大温差为9.2°C，最大相对湿度差为36.8%。由于小雨的存在和低太阳辐射，温度和相对湿度的差异显著减小。尽管下了小雨，冷却器的最大相对湿度仍为83.5%，最大冷却效率为91.5%。总的来说，在有利的小气候条件、番茄和羽衣甘蓝的保质期和颜色变化方面，冷却器显示了有希望的结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Research in Agricultural Engineering Engineering, agriculture-

CiteScore

1.40

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

24 weeks

期刊介绍： Original scientific papers, short communications, information, and studies covering all areas of agricultural engineering, agricultural technology, processing of agricultural products, countryside buildings and related problems from ecology, energetics, economy, ergonomy and applied physics and chemistry. Papers are published in English.