Peer review

A hot-water treatment plant for mango was designed and fabricated at Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering (FMPE) Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) to reduce the postharvest loss. Overall dimension of the plant was 3030 xlO00 x 814 mm and was fabricated with MS sheet, M S angle, bearing, chain, sprocket, heaters, cork sheet, pulley etc. It had five main functional parts: i) rectangular tanks, ii) roller conveyer assembly, iii) water heating system, iv) power transmission assembly, and v) agitator assembly. Conveyer roller is rotated by an electric motor and water was heated by six immersion electric heaters of 3 kW. A digital temperature controller was set to control the temperature of water a pre-determined temperature, usually from 54 to 56 °C. The performance of the plant was evaluated at FMPE Division, Gazipur and Regional Horticultural Research Station, Chapai Nawabgonj. Langra variety of mangoes were treated at 55 °C for 5 minutes. The average capacity of the plant was 1089 kg mango per hour. After the hot-water treatment, mango surfaces were dried by pedestal electric fan. No anthracnose or stem-end rot disease was observed, developed attractive colour, and the shelf-life was increased to 10 to 15 days. The postharvest rotting loss was only 0.13 per cent. The break-even-point of the plant was 5.5 tons of mangoes per year. The price of the plant was Tk 85 thousand and the cost of hot-water treatment was Tk 0.17 per kg. The farmers, traders and exporters would be benefited using this plant.

Text in English

Matin, Md.A. : No CIMMYT Affiliation