Horticultural produce are stored at lower temperature because of their highly perishable nature. There are many methods to cool the environment. Hence, preserving these types of foods in their fresh form demands that the chemical, bio-chemical and physiological changes are restricted to a minimum by close control of space temperature and humidity. The high cost involved in developing cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage is a pressing problem in several developing countries. Evaporative cooling is a well-known system to be an efficient and economical means for reducing the temperature and increasing the relative humidity in an enclosure and this effect has been extensively tried for increasing the shelf life of horticultural produce in some tropical and subtropical countries. In this review paper, basic concept and principle, methods of evaporative cooling and their application for the preservation of fruits and vegetables and economy are also reported. Thus, the evaporative cooler has prospect for use for short term preservation of vegetables and fruits soon after harvest. Zero energy cooling system could be used effectively for short-duration storage of fruits and vegetables even in hilly region. It not only reduces the storage temperature but also increases the relative humidity of the storage which is essential for maintaining the freshness of the commodities.

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Investigations were carried out to see the impact of blanching time, pretreatment and storage and packaging on the physico-chemical properties of solar dehydrated cauliflower. The processing treatments selected for the study were blanching time of 3, 5, 7 and 9 min, potassium metabisulphite (KMS) pretreatment having 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% concentration level and storage in high-density polyethylene, laminated aluminium foil and polypropylene. The cauliflowers were further processed and dehydrated in solar dryer before packing it into different packaging materials. Packed dehydrated cauliflower was stored for 6 months at room temperature. The stored cauliflower samples were tested periodically for their moisture content, rehydration ratio, rehydration coefficient, ascorbic acid and browning. Ranking of blanching time, chemical concentration level and packaging materials were statistically analysed by using SAS package. The samples with 9 min blanching time, followed by dipping in 1.0% KMS solution, and packed in laminated aluminium foil showed better results in comparison with other treatments.

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