Abstract Forced-air precooling of strawberries is rarely ideal due to the non-uniform cooling rate inside precooling facilities and the simple heuristics used to select precooling duration. The aim of this work was to investigate the product temperature distribution during commercial forced-air precooling of strawberries, quantify the relationship between the ambient and product temperature and assess precooling durations. Our field studies showed that the half-cooling time (HCT) on the inside of precooling tunnels is approximately twice the HCT on the outside, facing the incoming air, but is relatively constant along the length of the tunnel and vertically within pallets. The HCT on the outside of the tunnel is strongly correlated to the HCT on the inside, enabling temperature predictions from a limited number of sensors. Temperature variations of up to 7 °C were observed at the end of precooling, suggesting that precooling should be extended in some instances to improve uniformity.

中文翻译：

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草莓的商业强制空气预冷：温度分布和相关性研究

摘要 由于预冷设施内的非均匀冷却速率和用于选择预冷持续时间的简单启发式方法，草莓的强制空气预冷很少是理想的。这项工作的目的是调查草莓商业强制空气预冷过程中的产品温度分布，量化环境温度和产品温度之间的关系并评估预冷持续时间。我们的现场研究表明，预冷隧道内部的半冷却时间 (HCT) 大约是外部 HCT 的两倍，面向进入的空气，但沿隧道长度和托盘内的垂直方向相对恒定。隧道外部的 HCT 与内部的 HCT 密切相关，从而能够通过有限数量的传感器进行温度预测。