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Full Length Research Paper
Quality response of
cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) heads to
different package sizes and precooling by shading
**Appiah,
F1.,
Maalekuu, B. K1.,
Kumah, P1.,
Bakan, J. A2.,
Korseh, C3.
And Arthur, E1.
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, College
of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
*Corresponding author E-mail:
fappiah_sp@yahoo.com;
fappiah.sp@gmail.com
Received 29 December 2011; Accepted 25 January 2012
Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata)
which is an important leafy vegetable in the world is
handled variedly around the world partly due to its
bulkiness. In Ghana harvested cabbage heads are packaged in
large sacs and usually exposed to sunlight from the farmgate
to the market. Unfortunately, the quality implication of
handling practices carried out on cabbage in Ghana has not
been sufficiently reported. This study aimed at determining
the effect of pre-cooling by shading and the use of
different packaging sizes on the quality of cabbage on the
Ghanaian market. Freshly harvested cabbage heads were
subjected to pre-cooling treatments by either shading or not
shading as well as packaging using different sizes of sacs.
Cabbage heads that were shaded and kept in small sacs had
the least mechanical damage (11.11%), head temperature (27oC),
cumulative weight loss (12.75%), cumulative percentage
trimmed weight (23.06%) and cumulative percentage decay
(69.97%), while the unshaded heads in the large sacs
recorded higher mechanical damage (22.56%), average head
temperature (28.10oC), cumulative weight loss
(14.98%), cumulative percentage trimmed weight (27.77%) and
cumulative decay (80.00%) during the period of holding.
Temperature was found to be an important predictor of weight
loss (R2=0.86) and decay (R2=0.92) of
cabbage and that reducing it by shading would help minimize
postharvest losses.
Keywords:
Cabbage heads, pre-cooling, packaging size, post harvest
handling, quality
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