Sorting
- Refers to removing damaged commodity from the collection.
- Remove rotton, diseased, infested mechanically damaged, immature and over mature fruits (removal of undesirable fruits and vegetable).
Grading
- Grading is the process of classifying the produce into groups according to the set of organized criteria of quality and size.
- Grade can be A, B, C or 1,2, 3 or fine, course or large, medium, small etc.
- Sometimes the term sizing and grading are used synonymously in which grading is based on size.
Sizing
- After grading the produce is sized uniformly. Hand sizing is useful for small-scale packaging. It can be done mechanically. The standard size classification of potato is
- Large: Whose diameter is 75 mm or above
- Medium: Whose diameter is between 40-75 mm
- Small: Whose diameter is between 30-40 mm
- Tolerance limit is 5 percent
Trimming
- General term for curing or removing unwanted parts, those likely to be rejected by consumer or those which will shorten storage life.
- The process trimming also includes dehanding (separation of hands and stalk in banana), dethroning (removal of thrones in roses) and detopping (removal of tops in garlic, onion, radish, carrot etc.).
Fumigation
- Fumigation is an important packinghouse operation in the case the fruit and vegetables are exported to other countries.
- Methyl bromides, ethylene dibromide, SO2, ethylene oxide etc. are generally used fumigants to disinfect horticultural commodities from harmful and devastating insect pest.
