MARKET DISEASES OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 5 



A temperature of about 40° F. has been found most satisfactory 

 for the thawing of apples and is desirable for most other fruits. 

 Too high temperature — 60° to 70°, for example — favors discolora- 

 tion, break-down, and decay. If packages have to be handled 

 in order to put them in a place where the fruit will thaw, they 

 should be stacked in a way that permits free circulation of air 

 around them. 



Whatever method is used in caring for a shipment, it should al- 

 ways be remembered that fruit should not be handled while frozen 

 if such handling can possibly be avoided; the reason for this is 

 that when fruits are frozen the effect of even slight bruising 

 extends deep into the flesh and much more damage results than 

 from similar bruising of unfrozen fruits. 



If fruits have to be hauled to a pier, warehouse, or store in 

 freezing weather, they should be protected by means of paper, 

 hay, or straw around the inside of the truck body and tarpaulins 

 over the top. Individual packages in small lots, if hauled to stores 

 in unheated trucks in freezing weather, can be protected by 

 wrapping them in heavy paper. 



If the shipments arrive at market in good condition but, after 

 being unloaded, have to be held on a pier or in a receiver's 

 warehouse or storeroom during severely cold weather, the danger 

 that they may freeze depends on (1) the quantity of the fruit 

 held and its temperature at the time of unloading, (2) the amount 

 of artificial heat provided, (3) the tightness and insulating qual- 

 ity of the pier or warehouse construction, (4) the temperature 

 of the storage space during the previous day, and (5) the quantity 

 of other commodities held in the storage space and their capacity 

 for retaining heat. 



Additional facts that should be kept in mind in trying to pre- 

 vent freezing are (1) fruits cool more slowly if packed tightly 

 than if packed loosely and more slowly in tight boxes or baskets 

 than in slatted crates; (2) fruits cool more slowly if wrapped 

 than if not wrapped; (3) close stacking of packages gives some 

 protection from freezing; (4) the bottoms of outside stacks need 

 the most protection, because freezing occurs there first; (5) saw- 

 dust along the bottoms of outside doors helps to keep cold air 

 out; (6) a covering, such as a tarpaulin, over the stacks and 

 tucked carefully around them, especially at the bottom, helps to 

 retain both the heat already present in the fruit and that which 

 it produces by virtue of its being alive (heat of respiration). 



Even if there is no permanent equipment for heating the room 

 or pier, substantial help in keeping up the air temperature can 

 be obtained by setting barrels, oil drums, or buckets of hot water 

 under the tarpaulins where heat is most likely to be needed. 

 Since water will freeze before any of the fruits or vegetables 

 do, the heat it gives up on freezing is available for further pro- 

 tection. The heat that could be furnished by a lighted lantern, 

 an oil heater, or a container full of hot water set under a tar- 

 paulin covering stacks of produce might seem small, but i': might 

 be just enough to keep the fruit from freezing. Further informa- 

 tion on freezing injury is given in Circular 713 (118), 



