Rosalyn P.
Vidallo
BSAE 5-1
201010947
AEng95
Agricultural Processing
Agricultural processing is defined as any processing activity that is or can be done on the
farm or any local enterprises in which the farmer has an active interest. More specifically, any
farm or local activity that maintains or raises the quality or changes the form or characteristics of
a farm product may be considered as processing. The processing activities are undertaken to
provide a greater yield from a raw farm product by increasing the amount of finished product the
number of products or both and to improve the net economic value of a product by raising its
quality or the yield or by decreasing the cost production.
Postharvest Handling
Postharvest handling specifically involves the movement and the operations that
commodities undergo from harvest to the time immediately before meal preparation. Its main
concern is to keep commodities in an acceptable state from harvest until it reaches the consumer
since most commodities are channeled in their perishable state.
In addition, postharvest handling aims to minimize losses at the least possible cost. The
existing postharvest environment requires appropriate technologies to maintain quality of
commodities. Poor handling of agricultural commodities can result in quality deterioration and
losses.
Facts and figures of postharvest losses
Postharvest losses of commodities represent a very significant loss of 10-50% of
production output in developing countries. This means that one-tenth to one-half of all the land,
inputs, and labor used to produce the commodities goes to waste. When expressed in monetary
terms, this could amount to millions of pesos (Table 1).
Losses can be incurred from harvest, all along the handling route, up to the consumer's
level. Causes of losses may be due to unsuitable harvesting tools and aids, improper handling,
inferior quality of the containers, high temperature during transit, storage and distribution during
the day, and lack of facilities, predominance of rough roads, delays in distribution, and
inappropriate policies and socioeconomic factors.
Table 1. Actual postharvest losses of selected perishable crops in the Philippines
Amount
Commodity
Shipping points
Period
'Saba' banana
Davao to Korea
1987
32,000
Banana,
mixed Agusan del Norte to
lost (php)
Shipper/Owner
Multinational
company
load
Manila
2000
15,600
Consignee
Strawberry
Baguio to Hongkong 1994
12,000
Cooperative
Papaya
Negros to Manila
Seed Potato
USA to Philippines
1993
1,000,000 Importer
Onion
(stored)
1989
89,000,000 Bank
Jan
1994
54,075
Agribusiness
Association
Source: Agravante et. al 2003
In 2005, Philippine fruits and vegetables were worth PhP 101.5 billion (BAS, 2005). An
average loss of 35% thus amounts to PhP 35.52 billion annually. A loss reduction of 1% is
equivalent to PhP 355.2 million gain in productivity.
The combined market value of cutflowers such as orchids, gladioli, roses, and
chrysanthemums was estimated at PhP 354.6 million in 2005. Given a 50% loss, a 1% loss
reduction means PhP 1.77 million in savings.
Units of Operation
Processing jobs consist of a series of events or "unit of operations." Many unit operations
are used in more than one processing job, materials handling, cleaning and sorting, drying, for
example. Many devices or procedures that are to treated adequately in average agricultural
engineering curriculum are important in agricultural processing; fans, heat transfer,
instrumentation, work simplification, are examples. The unit operations, processes, devices and
procedures that appear to us to be most important in agricultural processing are:
Size reduction
Cleaning and sorting
Drying and dehydration
concentration by evaporation
Refrigeration
Mixing
Materials handling
Air conditioning
Steam generation and use
Heat transfer
Pumps and fans
plant layout
Work simplification
Instrumentation
Agricultural Processing Activities
Cleaning, sorting, grading, and treating grain, seed, nuts, cotton, fruits, vegetables, milk,
hops, and eggs.
Grinding and mixing animal feeds, fertilizers.
Milling sorghum, sugar cane, rice. Canning fruit and vegetable
packing fruit and vegetable
Dressing meat poultry
Freezing fruit vegetables, meat
Conditioned storage and transportation of products.
Other processing such as pertaining to fluid milk, butter, cheese, ice-cream, honey,
molasses, mint, turpentine, fiber crops.
GMP & HACCP
GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) is a system to ensure that products
meet food safety, quality and legal requirements. As a food manufacturer you should have
GMP in place.
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) can be part of GMP
and is a systematic program to assure food safety. A HACCP program consists of the
following steps:
Identify the hazards that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced
Identify the critical control points where control is essential to prevent, eliminate or
reduce a hazard
Establish and implement effective monitoring procedures at critical control points
Establish corrective actions when monitoring
Establish procedures to verify that the program is working effectively
Document your food safety work
HACCP is the recommended approach to control the possibility of allergen
contamination.
Critical points for control of the hazard from allergens that food companies need
to consider include employee training and supervision, product design and formulation,
supply chain of raw materials, manufacturing premises, equipment and processes,
cleaning, and packaging and labeling.
As an example Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
(OMAFRA) has designed a HACCP manual (and an accompanying guidebook) for all
non-federally registered food processing facilities, regardless of size, commodity or
volume processed. Allergens (especially contamination with allergens) are mentioned
throughout the manual. One of the program standards (02.6) deals specifically with
allergen control. They have designed the manual to be a practical, cost-effective and
preventative food safety system.
Understanding Importance of Processing Agricultural Crops
Importance of food processing includes toxin removal, preservation,
easing marketing and distribution tasks, and increasing food consistency. In addition, it
increases yearly availability of many foods, enables transportation of delicate perishable
foods across long distances and makes many kinds of foods safe to eat by de-activating
spoilage and pathogenic micro-organisms. Modern supermarkets would not exist without
modern food processing techniques, and long voyages would not be possible.
Processed foods are usually less susceptible to early spoilage than fresh
foods and are better suited for long distance transportation from the source to
the consumer. When they were first introduced, some processed foods helped to alleviate
food shortages and improved the overall nutrition of populations as it made many new
foods available to the masses.
Processing can also reduce the incidence of food borne disease. Fresh
materials, such as fresh produce and raw meats, are more likely to harbor pathogenic
micro-organisms (e.g. Salmonella) capable of causing serious illnesses.
The extremely varied modern diet is only truly possible on a wide scale
because of food processing. Transportation of more exotic foods, as well as the
elimination of much hard labor, gives the modern eater easy access to a wide variety of
food unimaginable to their ancestors.
Mass production of food is much cheaper overall than individual
production of meals from raw ingredients. Therefore, a large profit potential exists for the
manufacturers and suppliers of processed food products. Individuals may see a benefit in
convenience, but rarely see any direct financial cost benefit in using processed food as
compared to home preparation.
Processed food freed people from the large amount of time involved in
preparing and cooking "natural" unprocessed foods. The increase in free time allows
people much more choice in life style than previously allowed. In many families the
adults are working away from home and therefore there is little time for the preparation
of food based on fresh ingredients. The food industry offers products that fulfill many
different needs: e.g. fully prepared ready meals that can be heated up in the microwave
oven within a few minutes.
Modern food processing also improves the quality of life for people with
allergies, diabetics, and other people who cannot consume some common food elements.
Food processing can also add extra nutrients such as vitamins.
References
HENDERSON. S. M., R.L. PERRY. 1966. Agricultural Process Engineering.
@[Link]
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Postharvest Handling. @ [Link]
2008-1st-quarter/1485-janmar08-situationer-2
GMP & HACCP @ [Link]
Benefits of Processing Agricultural Crops @
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