Abstract
The quality and shelf life of French beans can be affected within hours of harvesting if the produce is not cooled after harvest. Solar-powered cooling systems are suitable for use in rural areas that are not connected to the grid. This study aimed at developing a solar powered cooling system to improve the quality of French beans in smallholder farms in Kenya. Freshly harvested French beans were stored under conventional field shed conditions and a solar-powered prototype cooler, after which weight and temperature were measured at intervals of 2 h and later packed in modified, atmosphere packaging bags. The bags were stored for 7 days in a cold room. Accumulated gas levels of oxygen and CO2 in the packaging bags were measured at the end of the shelf life. Significant differences (P≤0.05) in weight loss between produce stored in the conventional shed and those in the solar cooler prototype were observed. The weight of French beans reduced by 5 and 2.8% after 7 h under a conventional field shed and a fabricated solar cooler respectively. The volume of CO2 and O2 released from produce stored in a conventional shed and those in a fabricated solar cooler prototype were significantly different (P≤0.05). Key words: Conventional cooling method, French beans, temperature, solar cooler, weight loss.
Highlights
French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) require tender care and handling after harvest so as to maintain high quality until the produce gets to the consumer
Deterioration of French beans is very temperature dependent, as an increase in temperature results in increases in metabolic reactions, thereby causing foods to be unfit for consumption due to changes in sensory characteristics and microbial contamination (Rawat, 2015)
There was higher physiological weight loss in the conventional storage method, compared to the solar powered cooler and it changed from 500 g to 475 g after eight hours of storage
Summary
French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) require tender care and handling after harvest so as to maintain high quality until the produce gets to the consumer. Speed and efficiency of operations are key during production, transportation and storage (Okello et al, 2007). Deterioration of French beans is very temperature dependent, as an increase in temperature results in increases in metabolic reactions, thereby causing foods to be unfit for consumption due to changes in sensory characteristics and microbial contamination (Rawat, 2015). Losses after harvest are due to lack of appropriate storage facilities (Kumar and Kalita, 2017). Losses as high as 30-40% have been reported due to faults in handling, transportation, storage and marketing have been reported (Atanda et al, 2011).
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