REFRIGERATING FARM PRODUCE

Learn to Manage Refrigeration of Farm Produce

In today’s world, refrigeration, and the technology behind it, is one of the most important aspects in the food supply chain and paramount in getting food from the farm to the consumer in a fresh, edible and safe state. Not only food, but also cut flowers, seeds, extracted oils and other products produced by farms all need to be kept at an optimum temperature; hence an understanding of refrigeration may be very important to farmers, traders and manufacturers of most types of farm produce.

Learn about post-harvest refrigeration of agricultural produce:

• What to cool, chill, refrigerate or freeze
• How it is done
• The benefits for different farm produce

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Nature & Scope of Refrigeration
2. The Refrigeration Process
3. The Vapour Compression System
4. Heat Load Calculations
5. The Refrigeration Cycle: Refrigerants & Components
6. Applied Refrigeration: Farm Produce
7. Applied Refrigeration: Other Products
8. Freezing Goods

Aims

• Explain the nature and scope of refrigeration by providing a general overview of the concepts.
• Outline what happens to the physical properties of substances during refrigeration and different refrigeration methods, especially vapour compression.
• Describe the vapour compression refrigeration system and its components.
• Describe the nature of cooling and freezing items and outline how to calculate the heat load to be removed in order to carry out these processes.
• Outline the principles behind the basic refrigeration cycle, and selection of refrigerants and components.
• Explain refrigeration and chilling techniques for a range of edible products.
• Explain refrigeration and chilling techniques for a range of products other than edible produce.
• Outline the difference between freezing and refrigerating and how freezing methods can be used to store a range of goods.