Broccoli Fresh-keeping Processing Methods and Edible Mushroom Cultivation Techniques

The key points of broccoli fresh-keeping processing methods are as follows:

① Raw material quality standards: Buds fresh and compact, bud heads regular in spherical surface, small in grain size, no scattered tiny buds, bright green in color, free from pests and diseases, free from mechanical damage, free from mold, rot, softening, discoloration, and deformity. Plant height 14 cm or above, bud head (measured by the shortest diameter) 11 cm-13 cm.

② Process flow: Raw materials enter storage for pre-cooling -> head removal -> leaf trimming -> ice water soaking -> boxing, adding ice (7-8 kg/box) -> cold storage -> out of storage

③ Raw material acceptance and pre-cooling: Accept according to raw material standards, remove raw materials with pests and diseases, disease spots, mechanical damage and other non-conforming ones. Broccoli should be loaded with leaves into clean, square plastic baskets; transport vehicles must be clean and free of odors. Accepted raw materials should be put into storage for pre-cooling in a timely manner, with storage temperature at 0-2°C.

④ Head removal and leaf trimming: For qualified products, use a stainless steel knife to remove the head; the knife must be clean and sharp, the head cut must be flat, and must not be slanted outward. When trimming leaves of broccoli, pests and diseases, mechanical damage and other non-conforming products must be removed again; when trimming, the blade edge should face outward to prevent damage to the flower stalk. The degree of leaf trimming shall meet the following specifications:

A. Bright green in color, 11-13 cm, plant height 14 cm, 38 heads/CTN, all branches and leaves removed;

B. Bright green in color, 12-13.5 cm, plant height 14 cm, 30 heads/CTN, branches and leaves retained, leaves level with bud heads, branches and leaves 2 cm higher than bud heads;

C. Bright green in color, 12-13.5 cm, plant height 19 cm, 24 heads/CTN, branches and leaves retained, leaves 2 cm higher than bud heads.

⑤ Ice water soaking, boxing, adding ice:

After processed qualified products are soaked in ice water, they should be boxed in a timely manner (calcium plastic boxes); handle gently during boxing to prevent damage to bud heads, and remove non-conforming products. Print the production date, specification and packaging group number on the outside of the box. After boxing, immediately send to the cold storage to add ice flakes; when adding ice, the gaps must be filled completely and enough ice flakes must be added on the box surface, then immediately send to the cold storage for refrigeration. The ice used must be clean, free of impurities, and must not fail to meet export standards; the temperature should not be too low.

Boxing requirements:

1. The flower heads in each box shall be uniform in size and placed in a standard manner.

2. The flower heads in each box shall be of the same variety.

3. Ice 7-8 kg/box.

Cold storage

Storage temperature 0°C, cold storage time more than 24 hours; when leaving storage, ensure the temperature at the stem of the flower head is about 2°C (can be stored for 1 month).

Out of storage

When loading the products into containers, ice flakes must be added again to fill the boxes, and it must be ensured that products entering storage first are shipped first, to prevent prolonged storage from affecting quality and product temperature. The entire container loading time shall not exceed 2.5 hours, and the refrigerated container temperature shall be 0-1°C.