ABSTRACT
The importance of refrigeration is bound to increase since it will be an essential factor in solving two major problems of the future: the supply of enough food and the development of new energy sources. The use of low temperature constitutes a major means of preservation of perishable foods during storage and transportation and it is widely applied in the developed countries. Precooling, chilling, is a cooling process in which the field temperature of the fruits and vegetables is reduced to the approximately optimum storage and/or transportation temperature in the shortest time possible after harvest in the field prior to the storage and/or transportation. Cooling of food products as quickly as possible after harvest has become a widely used method for maintaining the quality, preventing spoilage, and maximizing the postharvest life. Hydrocooling, which is an effective method of quickly removing field heat of fruits and vegetables, is a commonly used cooling method.
