USING EVAPORATIVE COOLING AND PACKAGING TO STORE EGGPLANT CROPS

This research supports the UN’s 2030 Agenda and its goals of ending poverty and hunger. Fruit and vegetable (FandV) lose their freshness and weight when stored at unsuitable temperatures and relative humidity. This study was conducted in Baghdad governorate, located at latitude 33.3128057 and longitude 44.3614875, in the Karrada region from February 27 to April 17, 2024. It compared the effectiveness of different storage technologies, including evaporative cooling, various air velocities, and diverse packaging methods, against sustainable and nonpackaging approaches. The study employed an air cooler with a volume of 2000 ft3/s and insulated packaging. Temperature and relative humidity were recorded in the storage environment every five seconds using an Arduino system equipped with a DHT-22 temperature and humidity sensor. Analysis of the data revealed that evaporative cooling significantly extended eggplant shelf life and reduced weight loss when combined with effective packaging methods. The average SLD of CPS1 was 11 days and the lowest average WL was 3.86% at an average temperature and relative humidity of 16.02° C and 92.9%, respectively. The average SLD of CPS2 was 8 days while that for WL was 7.23% at an average temperature and relative humidity of 21.76° C and 94.08%, respectively. The multiple regression model explained 63% of the data, and the temperature coefficient was lower than for relative humidity, meaning that it is more significant than RH under the conditions of this experiment.