Climate smart technology for storage of fresh pro-vitamin A bio-fortified cassava

Abstract

Climate change is a problem affecting food security across the globe. The climate change effect of rising temperatures can be mitigated by using climate-smart crops such as cassava and climate-smart technology such as an Evaporative Cooling Structure (ECS). A 150 kg capacity Metal-in-Block evaporative cooling structure was designed and constructed to investigate its suitability for storage of fresh cassava roots. The postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD), weight loss, and deterioration rate of 12 months old biofortified cassava roots (TMS 01/1368) were evaluated, while the performance of the evaporative cooling structure was evaluated in terms of temperature drop, humidity increase, and cooling effectiveness. Results showed that the cassava was still in good condition and quality with no sign of PPD, while the total weight loss was 8.7%. The average cooling efficiency of the evaporative cooling structure was 102.7%. The result showed a drop in temperature from an average of 31.97–25.7°C and an increase in relative humidity from an average of 68.96–87.12%. The evaporative cooler was able to preserve freshly harvested cassava for at least 8 weeks. Storage of cassava in an evaporative cooling structure is thus recommended as an effective technology for medium scale cassava storage.