This document provides information about the design and development of packhouses and cold storage facilities. It discusses the differences between packhouses and cold storage, including their aims, governing bodies, and unit operations. It then describes the mechanism, function, and process flow within a packhouse. This includes details on receiving, sorting, grading, washing, drying, cooling, waxing, packaging, palletizing, and safety measures. The document concludes with descriptions of packhouse layout, materials of construction, and references.

1. PRAGATI SINGHAM
PH.D (I YEAR)
FPE
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
OF

2. • Packhouse Vs Cold storage
• Mechanism
• Function
• Process flow
• Safety measures
• Plant layout
• Construction design
CONTENTS

3. PARTICULARS PACKHOUSE COLD STORAGE
Aim Increment in Market potentiality Extension of shelf life
Unit
operations
Cleaning/washing/grading/
sorting/
waxing/storage/transportation
Cleaning/grading/sortin
g/ cooling/storage
Governing
body
APEDA or private sector MoFPI or private sector
PACKHOUSE VS. COLDSTORE

4. Farm
Produce
Pack House
Retail
Stores
Consumers
•Cleaning
•Grading
•Washing
•Drying
•Inspecting
•Packing &
etc.
MECHANISM OF PACKHOUSE

5. Acts as an-
– accumulation or collection point
– temporary holding area prior to distribution
– dispatch point of produce to different destinations
FUNCTION OF PACKHOUSE

6. Process flow for ‘Carabao’ mangoes destined for export markets (www.fao.org)

7. RECEIVING
• Maturity assessment
• Removal of foreign matters
• Trimming
WEIGHING (Digital)
• 1kg scale -manual sizing (individual)
• 50 or 100kg scale
(incoming & outgoing produce)
Internal breakdown in ‘Carabao’ mango
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

8. SORTING
GRADING
Static – inspection table
Dynamic - moving belt
Color sorterSurface defects
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE
Dynamic grader

10. SIZING
• Based on weight/density
• Based on dimension
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

11. WASHING
• Water-chlorinated water-water
• Water-hot water/steam(50-65°C for 10-25s) with brush
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

12. REMOVING FIELD HEAT
• Contact icing
• Hydro-cooling
• Forced air cooling
• Vacuum coolers(may be tunnel)
• Evaporative cooling
A FIRST-IN, FIRST OUT(FIFO) SYSTEM
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE
Dryer Blower

13. WAXING
• Food-grade waxes to reduce moisture loss
• Applied by
– foaming/ spray/ dipping and dripping
CONVEYING
• Belt conveyor
• Gravity conveyor (manual moving of conveyor)
Waxing of citrus by spraying
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

14. PACKAGING
• For delicate produce
• Less delicate produce
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE
Bagger for retail packing

15. PALLETIZING
Examples of container dimensions
that are compatible with metric
pallets (1 200 × 1 000 mm)
Chimney stacking pattern of cartons on a pallet
and a central air space to allow heat to escape
from the cartons
Pallet for unitized handling of containers
Insulated pallet
PROCESS FLOW IN PACKHOUSE

16. SAFETY MEASURES
(MECHANICAL BRUISING)
Delivery of fruit from a roller conveyor to a belt
conveyor
Rubber or plastic hoses used as bumpers
Blanket to de-accelerate the speed

17. Recommended design for a tank filled with liquid: (A) poor design may contain dead ends (B) design with improvements
for hygiene (Rahman 2007)
SAFETY MEASURES
A B

18. PACKHOUSE LAYOUT (U-SHAPE)
1
53
2
4
7
6
9
8
10

19. MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION
• Wood or bamboo: tables, benches, bins, crates and pallets
(dry product)
• SS 304 and SS 316: food contact surface
• Tungsten inert gas welding food contact joints. Metal inert gas
welding non-food contact joints
CONSTRUCTION DESIGN

20. ROOF
• Overhanging (atleast 1 m)- canvas or plastic
• 3 m above the floor (height improve ventilation)
• Galvanized iron sheet with insulation (PS or laminated plastic)
• Translucent or corrugated roofing panel (light)
• Screened roof vents
FLOORING
• Concrete, smooth finished
• Thick α load (reinforced with wire mesh & iron bar)
• mostly 10 cm
• heavy load-13-15cm
• Slope 2-4%
CONSTRUCTION DESIGN

21. DOOR & DOORWAY
• Width -1.5m(min)
• Gap between door & jambs 3mm(max.)
WALLS
• Concrete, smooth, non-absorbent, pest proof
• Slope 45°
• Floor-to-wall and wall-to-wall radius 5-6cm (min)
CEILING
• Acoustic board
• Distance between finished floor and ceiling- 2.4m (min)
• Paint-white
CONSTRUCTION DESIGN
Door & doorway

22. WINDOWS
• Screened (opening max 3mm)
• Slope 45°
• Height- 1m above floor
VENTILATION
• Cellulosic evaporative cooling pads (reduces temperature)
• Evaporative coolers
LIGHTING
An evaporative cooler that makes use of cellulosic pads
(inset) as wetted media
CONSTRUCTION DESIGN

23. • http://mpstateagro.nic.in/Project%20Reports%20pdf/BANANA%20PACK%20HOUS
E.pdf
• http://www.haith.co.uk/
• https://www.magrabi-agriculture.com/packhous.htm
• Rahman, M.S. 2007. Hygienic design and sanitation. In M.S. Rahman, ed.
Handbook of food preservation (2nd ed.), pp. 957-968. Boca Raton, Florida, CRC
Press.
• Mitchell, F.G. 1992. Packages for horticultural crops. In A.A. Kader, ed. Postharvest
technology of horticultural crops, pp. 45-52. Davis, California, Univ. of California.
• Reyes, M.U. 1988. Design, concept and operation of ASEAN packing-house
equipment for fruits and vegetables. Postharvest Horticulture Training and
Research Center, University of the Philippines at Los Baños. 56 pp.
REFERENCES

24. THANKYOU