Browsing by Author "Majubwa, R.O"

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Comparison of three shipping packages in reducing postharvest losses of mandarin (citrus reticulate blanco) fruits along the value chain
(TAJAS, 2021) Majubwa, R.O; Sargent, S.A; Msogoya, T.J; Chaparro, J.X; Ritenour, M.A; Huber, D.J; Sims, C.A
A study was conducted to compare the effect of three shipping packages; traditional bamboo baskets (BAMB), bulk on truck (BULK) and stackable plastic crates (SPC) and the effect of fruit position in the package (bottom, middle, and top) on postharvest loss of mandarin (Citrus reticulate Blanco.) fruits along the value chain. A 3x3 factorial experimental design in a completely randomized design (CRD) was used to set up the trial. Harvested mandarin fruits were sorted and the uniform undamaged fruits packed in SPCs, BAMB, and BULK packages. Fruits were transported for 161km from Kikundi village in the Morogoro district through Chalinze to Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). On arrival at SUA, fruits were held under simulated wholesale (3 days) and retail conditions until when at least 50% of the fruits were rated unmarketable. During the study, fruits were evaluated for external and internal fruit quality including; proportion of decays, weight loss, pulp temperature, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), SSC/ TA, and Ascorbic acid. Results show a significant interaction between (i) shipping-packages and fruit position with respect to fruit pulp temperature and cumulative decay and (ii) storage time in terms of juice volume, SSC, TA, SSC/TA, and ascorbic acid. For fruit in SPC, decays was higher on fruits at top than at the middle and bottom of the package. SPC reduced fruit decay by 7.9% or 5.1% than those packed in BAMB or BULK, respectively. Mandarin fruits in SPC and BAMB particularly at the middle and bottom of SPC and BULK experienced lower pulp temperature than those at the top of packages. Fruit internal quality; soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), and ascorbic acid (ASC) changed only with storage duration. The study recommends use of SPC for reducing fruit decays, and for slowing fruit pulp temperature rise during shipping. Further study is recommended to establish the cost benefit of SPC over BAMB and BULK packaging as a means to enhance its adoption.
CoolBot coldroom technology enhance postharvest quality and shelf-life of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruits
(AJOL, 2021) Majubwa, R.O; Msogoya, T.J; Mtui, H.D; Shango, A.J
Fruit and vegetable value chain actors in developing countries experience postharvest losses of 20 – 50% depending on the crop and management practices. One of the reasons for such loss is mentioned to be lack of affordable technologies to enhance produce storability during handling after harvest. Temperature management serves as the number one practice for extending shelf life of fresh produce. CoolBot is a device coupled to room air conditioner capable of dropping the room temperature to as low as 2 o C. Storage rooms installed with the technology seem suitable for handling fresh fruits and vegetables over an extended period. Despite the awareness creation upon the value chain actors, they are yet skeptical of these technologies’ performance and cost- effectiveness during utilization. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the performance and cost-effectiveness of two CoolBot Cold-rooms (CB-CR) independently, one set at temperature of 13±1 o C and the other at 16±1 o C, respectively. Tomato fruits of the variety Assila harvested at three maturity stages were used during the evaluation. A 2x3 factorial experiment arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with two factors; storage condition (CB-CR at 13±1 o C and CB-CR at 16±1 o C) and Maturity stage (mature-green, breaker and light red) were used. Following 42 days of storage at pre-defined storage conditions, results indicated no significant interaction of maturity stage and storage condition among variables. However, external fruit colour change in terms of Lightness (L*), Chroma (C*), and Hue (H*), marketable fruits (%), soluble solid content (% Brix), titratable acidity (MeqL-1), weight loss (%) and firmness-compression (kg/mm2) varied with maturity stages. External fruit colour change from yellow yellow-green colour (L*C*h* = 57, 31.7, 110) to yellow yellow-red (L*h*C*= 39.7, 42.3, 43.0) was delayed more on mature green (MG) compared to other stages at both CB-CR (13±1 o C and 16±1 o C). Percentage marketable fruits was much higher on mature green fruits (84.83%), followed by Breakers (60.91%) and light red (48.58%). Based on electricity consumption, storage of tomato at CB-CR 16±1 o C (160.2 KWh) was more beneficial than at CB-CR 13 o C (272.7 KWh) due to less power consumption. It is therefore imperative to conclude that, more benefit can be realized when CB-CR storage is combined with the proper harvest maturity stage. Similarly, mapping of crop price change over season is required for proper storage timing using the technology throughout the year.
Performance of low cost postharvest handling technologies on Quality of tomato (solanum lycopersicum) fruits
(2022) Majubwa, R.O; Mtui, H.D
Low cost technologies including CoolBot Cold-rooms (CB-CR) and Zero Energy Cooling Chamber (ZECC) have been made available to value-chain actors in least developing countries. However, little is known about their performance and cost effectiveness to enhance their utilization. This study was conducted to establish comparative performance and cost effectiveness of CoolBot Cold-rooms (CB-CR), Zero Energy Cooling Chamber (ZECC) and Ambient Storage conditions on storability and quality retention of fruits of tomato variety “Assila F1”. A 4x3 factorial experiment in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with two factors; maturity stage (mature-green, breaker and light red) and storage conditions (CB-CR at 13±1°C, CB-CR at 16±1°C, ZECC, and ambient) were used. Following 12 days storage of 6 crates (28.5kg each) per treatment combination, results indicated a significant interaction between maturity stage and storage condition in terms of fruit external colour change (L*C*h*) and marketable fruits (%) but not on soluble solid content (%Brix), titratable acidity (MeqL -1 ), weight loss (%) and firmness-compression (kg/mm 2 ). Color change was delayed on mature green (MG) compared to other harvesting stages but much slower on MG fruits stored in CB-CR (13±1°C and 16±1°C) from yellow yellow-green (L*C*h*=57, 31.7, 110) to yellow yellow-red (L*h*C*= 42.9, 43, 50). Percentage marketable fruits were higher on MG harvested fruits stored at 13°C (98.9%) and 16 °C (97.8%) than ZECC (71%) and Ambient (57%). Storage at CB-CR at 13±1°C and CB-CR at 16±1°C were found economically viable with benefit to cost ratio (B:C) of 1.7 and 2.2, respectively. During the season the B:C ratio of storing mature green harvested tomato fruits in ZECC (0.61) was poor but relatively better than that of storage at ambient (0.44) condition. The study therefore recommends adoption of CB-CR technology to ensure better and economical storability of tomato during peak harvesting seasons when demand is low.