DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

OF

PRAGATI SINGHAM
PH.D (I YEAR)
FPE
 CONTENTS

• Packhouse Vs Cold storage

• Mechanism
• Function
• Process flow
• Safety measures
• Plant layout
• Construction design
 PACKHOUSE VS. COLDSTORE

PARTICULARS PACKHOUSE COLD STORAGE

Aim Increment in Market potentiality Extension of shelf life

Unit Cleaning/washing/grading/ Cleaning/grading/sortin

operations sorting/ g/ cooling/storage
waxing/storage/transportation

Governing APEDA or private sector MoFPI or private sector

body
 MECHANISM OF PACKHOUSE

Farm Retail
Pack House Consumers
Produce Stores

•Cleaning
•Grading
•Washing
•Drying
•Inspecting
•Packing &
etc.
 FUNCTION OF PACKHOUSE

Acts as an-
– accumulation or collection point

– temporary holding area prior to distribution

– dispatch point of produce to different destinations

Process flow for ‘Carabao’ mangoes destined for export markets (www.fao.org)
 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

RECEIVING
• Maturity assessment
• Removal of foreign matters
• Trimming
Internal breakdown in ‘Carabao’ mango

WEIGHING (Digital)
• 1kg scale -manual sizing (individual)
• 50 or 100kg scale
(incoming & outgoing produce)
 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

SORTING

Surface defects Color sorter

GRADING
Static – inspection table
Dynamic - moving belt

Dynamic grader
 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

SIZING

• Based on weight/density

• Based on dimension
 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

WASHING
• Water-chlorinated water-water

• Water-hot water/steam(50-65°C for 10-25s) with brush

 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

REMOVING FIELD HEAT

• Contact icing
• Hydro-cooling
• Forced air cooling
• Vacuum coolers(may be tunnel)
• Evaporative cooling

Dryer Blower

A FIRST-IN, FIRST OUT(FIFO) SYSTEM

 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

WAXING

• Food-grade waxes to reduce moisture loss

• Applied by
– foaming/ spray/ dipping and dripping Waxing of citrus by spraying

CONVEYING
• Belt conveyor
• Gravity conveyor (manual moving of conveyor)
 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

PACKAGING
• For delicate produce

• Less delicate produce

Bagger for retail packing

 PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

PALLETIZING

Pallet for unitized handling of containers

Examples of container dimensions

that are compatible with metric
pallets (1 200 × 1 000 mm)

Chimney stacking pattern of cartons on a pallet

and a central air space to allow heat to escape Insulated pallet
from the cartons
 SAFETY MEASURES
(MECHANICAL BRUISING)

Rubber or plastic hoses used as bumpers Delivery of fruit from a roller conveyor to a belt
conveyor

Blanket to de-accelerate the speed

 SAFETY MEASURES

A B

Recommended design for a tank filled with liquid: (A) poor design may contain dead ends (B) design with improvements
for hygiene (Rahman 2007)
 PACKHOUSE LAYOUT (U-SHAPE)
10
9

7
1
2
6

3 5

4
 CONSTRUCTION DESIGN

MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION

• Wood or bamboo: tables, benches, bins, crates and pallets

(dry product)

• SS 304 and SS 316: food contact surface

• Tungsten inert gas welding food contact joints. Metal inert gas
welding non-food contact joints
 CONSTRUCTION DESIGN
ROOF
• Overhanging (atleast 1 m)- canvas or plastic
• 3 m above the floor (height improve ventilation)
• Galvanized iron sheet with insulation (PS or laminated plastic)
• Translucent or corrugated roofing panel (light)
• Screened roof vents

FLOORING
• Concrete, smooth finished
• Thick α load (reinforced with wire mesh & iron bar)
• mostly 10 cm
• heavy load-13-15cm
• Slope 2-4%
 CONSTRUCTION DESIGN
DOOR & DOORWAY
• Width -1.5m(min)
• Gap between door & jambs 3mm(max.)

WALLS
• Concrete, smooth, non-absorbent, pest proof
• Slope 45° Door & doorway
• Floor-to-wall and wall-to-wall radius 5-6cm (min)

CEILING
• Acoustic board
• Distance between finished floor and ceiling- 2.4m (min)
• Paint-white
 CONSTRUCTION DESIGN

WINDOWS
• Screened (opening max 3mm)
• Slope 45°
• Height- 1m above floor

An evaporative cooler that makes use of cellulosic pads

VENTILATION (inset) as wetted media
• Cellulosic evaporative cooling pads (reduces temperature)
• Evaporative coolers

LIGHTING
 REFERENCES
• http://mpstateagro.nic.in/Project%20Reports%20pdf/BANANA%20PACK%20HOUS
E.pdf

• http://www.haith.co.uk/

• https://www.magrabi-agriculture.com/packhous.htm

• Rahman, M.S. 2007. Hygienic design and sanitation. In M.S. Rahman, ed.
Handbook of food preservation (2nd ed.), pp. 957-968. Boca Raton, Florida, CRC
Press.

• Mitchell, F.G. 1992. Packages for horticultural crops. In A.A. Kader, ed. Postharvest
technology of horticultural crops, pp. 45-52. Davis, California, Univ. of California.

• Reyes, M.U. 1988. Design, concept and operation of ASEAN packing-house

equipment for fruits and vegetables. Postharvest Horticulture Training and
Research Center, University of the Philippines at Los Baños. 56 pp.
THANK YOU