Commercial Storage Of Fruit And Vegetables - The Cucumber

Commercial Storage of Fruit and Vegetables

Cucumbers

Cucumbers? Yes, cucumbers. The cucumber plant (cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family cucurbitaceae. Cucumbers are grown for their fruit. The fruit is roughly cylindrical, elongated, with tapered ends. Cucumbers are mainly eaten in the unripe green form.

Eaten unripe? Yes, Cucumbers are eaten unripe. Ripe cucumbers are yellow and have a bitter sour taste. Cucumbers are normally harvested at a slightly immature stage, near full size but before seeds fully enlarge and harden. At this stage, the fruit is said to have a mild, almost watery flavour or a light melon taste.

So how are they kept like this? •Storage temperature is 10 - 12.5°C – low storage temperatures reduce respiration in the fruit and hence the speed of ripening. Too low, and the cucumbers will suffer chilling injury

•A relative humidity (R.H.) of 95% is maintained – a high humidity will stop water loss from the fruit keeping it moist

So how are they kept like this? •Cucumbers are not mixed with bananas, melons and tomatoes- such fruits release large amounts of ethene which cucumbers are very sensitive to. Even small amounts of ethene can accelerate yellowing

•Oxygen levels are kept low (3-5%) - low O2 levels delay yellowing and the onset of decay.

So how are they kept like this? •Cucumbers are often treated with approved waxes or oils – waxes and oils decrease water loss from the fruit and improve it’s appearance

Yummy! Yes, cucumbers are rather delicious.

The End Intellectual property of Thomas Sturges – Allard Used with permission All rights reserved