Handling after harvest
- Ideally apricots should be picked and packed on the same day and cooled to -0.5 °C as soon as
possible after packing - Research has shown that if this is not possible, a total delay of 12 hours at ambient (20 to 25 °C) from harvest to cooling should give acceptable fruit, albeit, slightly softer after storage compared to fruit packed and cooled on the same day
- Partial cooling is not advised. Therefore, if (2) is not possible, fruit should be cooled to between 3 °C and -0.5 °C before packing and cooled to -0.5 °C as soon as possible after packing. To achieve this forced air cooling of the fruit in the bins is imperative as fruit in bins under static conditions can take up to 5 days to cool
- Half pallets should be cooled to between 3 °C and -0.5 °C with forced-air cooling, built up to full pallet on the following day and cooled to
-0.5 °C immediately after completion of the pallet. The half pallet should only be removed from the cold store once enough cartons are available to complete the pallet
Cooling
After packing, apricots should be forced-air cooled to the target pulp temperature of -0.5 °C within 12 to 24 hours. Care must be taken not to cool the fruit to lower than -0.5 °C as apricots are susceptible to freezing damage
Shipping
- The maximum pulp temperature at loading is 1.5 °C
- Apricots must be shipped using the D05 carrying temperature regime (-0.5 °C for the full duration of the voyage)
- The fresh air ventilation in integral containers is closed and in conventional decks the CO2 concentration are maintained below 0.5%
- It is recommended that void plugs are used in containers to block off the openings on the container floor at the door. This will improve cooling in the container