PROCESS PARAMETERS FOR HYDROCOOLING APRICOTS, PLUMS, AND PEACHES

Freshly harvested apricots, plums, and peaches in crates containing 5-20 kg were hydrocooled in flowing water at 1-degrees-C and 50 mm s-1. The cooling parameters: lag factor, cooling coefficient, and time to half-cool, determined from the exponential decline in the dimensionless ratio ot temperature differences between fruit centre and coolant temperature at time t and at zero time, varied somewhat with crate load. Increasing the load from 5 to 20 kg increased the time to half-cool apricots by 17% and plums and peaches by 39%.