Ferreira, JoãoSilva, Pedro Dinho daPires, Luís C.Gaspar, Pedro DinisNunes, José2019-10-252019-10-252018http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/7406The pre-cooling of peaches is a very demanding process regarding energy conservation and management. Inappropriate cooling techniques and cooling times lead to post-harvest phase losses, resulting in wasted energy and produce. This work studies the difference in cooling time between air and hydro-cooling and the influence of peach size in their cooling time in the post-harvest phase. A numerical model was developed to evaluate the peach temperature during the pre-cooling stage. The results from the model were compared with experimental data and a set of correlations of the half-cooling time and the seven eighth cooling time as a function of the peach size were developed. Globally, the information provided in this work in terms of cooling times in both air and hydro cooling equipments could be used to improve the efficiency of the pre-cooling process by keeping the quality of the produce but reducing the energy consumption by peach.engPre-coolingComputer modelingPost-harvestPeachExperimental behaviorjournal article