DR. D. Y.
PATIL COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, TALSANDE
PFE 366
Lecture No. 15
Pack House Technology
April - 2022
Dr. Y V Shete
Assistant Professor
Department of Processing and Food Engineering
Dr. D. Y. Patil College of Agricultural Engineering &
Technology, Talsande
Pack house
• Preparation of fruits and vegetables for market is
carried out in pack house.
• Pack house provides sheltered environment whose purpose is
the assembly, sorting, selection and packaging of produce.
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Factors considered in planning of Pack house
• Operations to be carried out
• Location of suitable site
• Design of structure and building materials available
• Equipment to be used
• Management
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Operations in Pack house
• Reception: Off loading, checking, recording
• Sorting
• Special treatments, if required Cleaning or washing, fungicide,
spraying, selection, size grading
• Packing
• Post packaging treatments, if required fumigation, cooling,
storage
• Assembly and dispatch
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Important data required
• Labeled to identify its source and date of arrival
• Checked for quantity or weight delivered
• Sample for quality if necessary
• Acknowledged by a receipt to the supplier
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Sorting
• A preliminary sorting should remove unmarketable pieces and
foreign matter (plant debris, soil or stones) before the produce
passes on to further operations.
Cleaning and washing
• Removal of soil and stones by hand picking and sieving
• Produce can washed, brushed, cleaned with a soft cloth.
• Use of clean water
• Machines are also used for this purpose.
• Hypochlorite or chlorine gas may be added to washing water
used for commercial treatment of some products.
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Fungicide treatment
• Infection of moulds and bacteria is major cause of decay in fresh
produce. It can be occur pre or post harvesting of fruits and
vegetables.
• Mango, banana, avocado, sweet potatoes are subject to latent
anthracnose infections.
• Most fungicides are used in the form of wettable powders or
emulsifiable concentrations.
Methods of fungicide application
• Dipping
• Spraying Hand operated sprayers
• Large spraying operations machine
• Smoke, dust useful for large scale operations
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Quality selection and size grading
• On the basis of quality and size immediately before packing
• Depends on the market demand
• It is done by human eye and by hand, assisted by sizing rings and
gauges.
Waxing
• It enhance the appearance and limit water loss from produce
required specialized equipment.
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Packaging
• Hand filling of containers in small pack houses.
• Use of machines in large scale houses
Methods of packaging
• Loose fill jumble pack: Only weighing is important
• Multilayer pattern pack: Count of produce
• Multilayer size graded pack: Mechanical packing in trays in layers
• Single layer packs: Each piece wrapped separate and hold alone
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Special treatments after packing
• Fumigation
• Initiation of fruit ripening
• Degreening of citrus fruit
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Assembly of packed produce for dispatch
• Once produce is packed it should be dispatched
to market as soon as possible.
• Protection of boxes from sun, rain
• Care should be taken during stacking of boxes
• Ventilation during transportation
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Losses of fresh produce can be minimized by
• Kept as cool as possible
• Kept dry
• Protected from injury
• Kept moving quickly to market
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Planning a packing house points to be considered
• Accessible to production area, market and roads
• Labour availability
• Electricity, water, network availability
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Site characteristics
• Site should be level, sheltered from strong winds
• If it is permanent pack house then room for
expansion
• Space for vehicle movement, parking, roadways
must be at least 3.5 m wide
• Drainage system must be adequate
• Security arrangement, fencing & watchman
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Layout, Construction and Equipment
• Layout
• Reception
• Preparation and packing
• Dispatch
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Layout, Construction and Equipment
• Construction
• Protection from sun and rain
• Good ventilation
• Hard level flooring
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Layout, Construction and Equipment
• Equipment
• Bins or trays, containers
• Push carts
• Roller conveyors
• Moving belt conveyors
• Hand pushed lift trucks
• Motorized fork lift trucks
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Additional Equipment
• Weighing
• Washing
• Drying
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Packing house management
• Meeting market requirements
• Procurement and control
• Supplies of packing materials
• Disposal of low grade produce
• Staffing
• Staff training
• Grower training
• Accounting and costing of operations
• Documentation and accounting
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Thank you
