| Forced-air cooling in conjunction with ice can rapidly remove field heat of fresh horticultural produce, and enhance their preservation. In the current work, a forced-air cooling technique was developed, and the effect of the fan speeds (1200, 1350, and 1750 rev/min) on the cooling time, sensory properties and microstructure of three different cooled products (okra, tomato, and green bell pepper) were investigated using standard methods. The results within the experimental conditions showed that the forced-air cooling technique lowers the temperature faster, and significantly reduces the cooling time (p ≤ 0.05) of all the products when compared with the time of cooling under room cooling condition. The time of cooling the tomato from ambient (32oC) to... |
