Performance Evaluation of Evaporative Cooled Room for Storage of Kinnow Mandarin

An evaporative cooled (EC) Room of 2 tons storage capacity has been developed by us for storage of fruits and vegetables at farm level and was evaluated for storage of 1.5 tons of ʹKinnowʹ. During the storage period the temperature (maximum) and RH conditions in EC room were 12.5-19.0°C and 88-98%, respectively. Fruits were also kept as control in ordinary room at temperature (maximum 13.1-21.2°C) and RH (52-75%) for comparison. The physiological loss in weight (PLW), rotting, vitamin C retention, total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity and organoleptic scores were taken periodically for determining the shelf-life of ʹKinnowʹ. The results showed that the ʹKinnowʹ could be stored in EC room for 29 days as against 16 days in ordinary room temperature conditions. The good appearance and flavour of ʹKinnowʹ were maintained in EC room. The data on PLW, rotting, vitamin C retention, and TSS indicate that the EC room is a suitable ʹon-farm storage structureʹ for enhancement of shelf-life of ʹKinnowʹ while maintaining its post harvest quality and market acceptability.