Kukkakaalin varastoinnista

Authors

• Irma Suhonen Helsingin yliopiston puutarhatieteen laitos, Viik

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.71669

Abstract

The storage of cauliflower (variety Flora Blanca) was studied in 1963–66. The cauliflower was grown on experimental fields at Viik (Table 1) and the curds were stored directly after harvesting. The main points were: 1) How long can cauliflower be stored if the storage temperature is 1—2°C and relative humidity 90-95 %. 2) How big are storage losses caused by evaporation in above circumstances. 3) What are the benefits from wrapping cauliflowers in PV-bags. 4) What changes in the appearance of curds occur during storage. The appearance was determined in the following ways. Flowers and leaves : 3 = first class appearance, 0 = destroyed. Firmness of heads; 100 = all heads firm, 0 = all heads soft. The results (based on the weight of the cauliflower before storage) are given in Tables 2 to 4. Accordingly, cauliflower Flora Blanca can be stored 2–3 weeks and middle size curds (0.6 kg) keep best. Storage losses caused by evaporation varied in different weeks (Figure 1), during 4 weeks of storage they were about 14 %. while if the cauliflowers were wrapped in PV-bags, the losses were only about 1 %. The cauliflowers in PV-bags were firstly affected by spots on the flowers, without PV-bags there was wilting. The first spots (dead lesions) appeared during the fourth storage week. Thus cauliflowers in PV-bags could be stored without significant losses about 4 weeks.