Young coconut postharvest

The current health awareness has revitalized the important of coconut fruit. Postharvest technology for young coconuts is being developed in response to demand from North America and Europe, giving a good opportunity for Asia ?Pacific nations to develop the industry. The bulky nature and low edible portion of young coconut can be minimized by trimming out the husk to leave only one to two-third of the original weight. Browning and mold development after the trimming process are needed to be controlled with careful use of sulfite solution not to contaminate the kernel and the water. Other alternatives are also available but its implementation depends on the market to accept fruit with slightly dull creamy appearance as compared to the unnatural white color offered at present. Skill labor shortage for handling the fruit is an increasing problem. Tools have been invented but their application is awaiting for a sound economical return. Cracking of the fruit during handling and storage has been demonstrated to be due to high pressure of the water inside. A delay period before trimming reduces the problem. The current storage and transportation temperature at 2-4C, which gave at least one month storage duration,was found to cause chilling injury, observed as off-flavor, electrolyte leakage and high malondialdehyde content. Procedures to reduce the disorder are under studied.Consuming the fruit could also be hazardous, due to its hard shell. This problem limits its market expansion. Simple tools or techniques are available such as a compact circular hand saw or a borer, but a more applicable tool is still needed.SourcesYOUNG COCONUT POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY GIVES A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONSiriphanich, J12agrjts@ku.ac.th1Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen,Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand 2Postharvest Technology Innovation Center Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom,Thailand IHC 2014, International Horticulture Congress, 17-22 August 2014, Brisbane, http://www.ihc2014.org/Picture by coconutbenefits.ca