Temperature:

• The optimal storage temperature is influenced by the following factors: crop type and cultivar, the maturity stage at harvest, preharvest growing conditions (such as environmental temperature and precipitation) and postharvest handlings.
• Based on storage temperature, two groups can be identified:
  • Group 1 (‘Cold’ group): Optimal Temperature < 7 °C 
  • Optimal Temperature > 7 °C  Optimal Temperature > 7 °C 
• When two storage rooms are available, one room could operate below 7 °C while the other could be set to a higher temperature (> 7 °C).
• When only one room is available, the temperature in the room has to be adapted to suit all crops. In general, the temperature should be increased to the highest optimal temperature of all the crops in the room. This will cause stored products of group 1 (‘Cold’) to age faster, but it is important to prevent chilling injury: applying too low temperatures will damage the products.
• The cold room design could also be manually changed to generate warmer zones, for example, by hanging tarpaulins to create different compartments within the room.
• Products with higher optimal temperature can also be stored in a shade or using passive coolers outside of the cold room.

Ethylene:

• Ethylene triggers the ripening of various crops and can thus reduce their storability.
• Crops producing ethylene should be kept far apart from crops sensitive to ethylene, should be installed to remove ethylene from the air, reducing its impact on sensitive crops.
• Crops producing ethylene are best placed near the exit of the cold storage room (close to the doors or to where the air is leaving the room).

Table for selected crops:

In the table here we present an overview of optimal temperature, ethylene sensitivity and production, and the average storage life for products kept at optimal conditions.