A field practice report on the post-harvest handling operation of solo papaya (Carica papaya L.) at Sumifru (Philippines) Corporation, Davao City

Date

12-2015

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Major Course

Major in Agricultural and Bio-Process Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Ma. Cristine Concepcion D. Ignacio

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser and only to those bound by the confidentiality agreement.

Abstract

Papaya is one of the crops the Philippines is exporting to different countries. Before it can reach their market, the crop will undergo several processes to ensure its quality for consumption. This report is about the post-harvest handling operations of papaya in Sumifru (Philippines) Corporation which is located at Davao City. The papaya processing plant is situated in the company's port and shipping facility. Since their main product is banana, the company is a newbie in terms of processing and exporting papayas so they outsource the said crop from growers or farmers in Tupi, South Cotobato. The variety of the papaya processed is Solo Papaya. The operations observed in this report are trimming, washing, weighing, sorting, hot water treatment, vapor heat treatment, packing, metal detection, palletizing, cold storage, and delivery. Included in the observation of each process are the methods, tools, equipment, and standards used. The company is very strict when it comes to maintaining the quality of the fruit. They are using international standards in grading according to the degree of tolerance of the damage. They use color index and floatation method for initial quality inspection. The peduncle is trimmed up to certain length depending on the specifications of the exporting country. For Japan and other countries, an inch of the peduncle remains attached to the fruit while half an inch for Singapore and others. Quality assurance is incorporated in each process. They classify their products according to weight ranges. Hot water treatment and vapor heat treatment are applied to the papayas to ensure that they are free from insects and diseases that might affect the quality of their produce. The temperature ranges for hot water treatment and vapor heat treatment are 47-49°C and 68-72 °C respectively. The temperature during the process must be maintained within the mentioned ranges because if may cook the papayas if it exceeds the upper limit or no effect if it is below the lower limit. The treatment will just be done once approved by the quarantine inspectors. After the treatment, the papayas are to be packed using newsprints and carton boxes. The boxes are provided with holes with screen on it for air circulation. Product code and box code are placed in the finish products for compliance to the quality standards. The boxes are passed on the metal detectors to make sure that no metals are left inside each box. After that, the commodities are cold stored before transport to shipping facilities. The company is having problems when it comes to regular supply of the papayas to be processed so the employees do not have regular duty. Also, proper maintenance of the tools, machine and equipment used during the process must be observed. Aside from that, no other major problems are observed during the handling operations.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Call Number

LG 993 2015 A2 /C37

Document Type

Thesis

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