Post-harvest processing and cooling of berries

Today, the sale of fresh berries in stores and supermarkets has been actively developed, although earlier this category was called “difficult” for sale. The demand for berries is growing day by day.

So why are berries so “complicated”? These are products that deteriorate quickly, their taste is rather difficult to maintain for a long time. But this can be taken care of already at the planning stage of the bookmark. For example, you should choose the right variety for planting, characterized by long keeping quality and good transportability. In addition, competent organization of harvesting and post-harvest processing of berries, including packaging and cooling, is of great importance.

So how do you increase the shelf life of your berries?

• It is generally accepted that the berries should be picked at the stage of ripeness. This is true, but then you will have to forget about long-term storage and transportability. The most mature berry is considered to be harvested in the technical ripeness phase. For each berry, this phase is different: for blackberries - black with a bluish bloom, for raspberries - ease of removal from the stalk (without damage). Red currants are collected on twigs, black - without. The harvest time of strawberries is determined by the redness of the fruit, there should be no green tip left. Any berry should have a firm pulp.
• If you pick berries after rain, then the settled moisture can stimulate the development of pathogenic microflora. Such a "wet" crop is generally not suitable for storage; it must be sold as soon as possible. Heat and high temperatures also reduce the quality of the harvested berries.
• If the berry is affected by diseases or pests, as well as mechanically damaged during collection or packaging, you can forget about long-term storage.
• A few days before harvesting, you can use systemic fungicides, which will increase the keeping quality of the berries. There is no threat to the end consumer, since these substances are highly degradable.
• Keeping quality also depends on the container where the harvested berries are packed. For example, for strawberries it is best to use a package of half a kilogram, and for raspberries - no more than 250 g.
• After harvesting (especially in hot weather), it is best to chill it right away.

Cooling berries

Hot weather outside at the time of harvest can speed up the metabolism in berries. In addition, moisture, vitamins and organic matter are rapidly lost. This all leads to spoilage of the product.

There is a universal solution to these problems: crop cooling for 30 minutes. after collection. In order to provide instant cooling of berries immediately in the field, Agrovent has developed a mobile chamber for intensive cooling of berries.

The mobile chamber for cooling berries from A-berry cube provides everything for storing berry products for a period of 1 to 3 weeks, which will allow transporting berries over long distances without losing weight and product quality.