Flender/Flender Gear Units/Bevel-helical gear reducer B3
or vegetables with high transpiration coefcient, initial relative humidity has little effect on moisture loss, except where the air stream

enters the load. In thatsituation, the effect of low relative humidity is severe. () For commodities with high transpiration coefcients,

initial relative humidity has little effect on the relative humidity in the bulk of the produce load where the level

approaches saturation. () Relative humidityis strongly affected by transpiration coefcients (dened earlier), but is relatively indepen-dent of the heat of

respiration, air velocity, and initial relative humidity. () Increased heat of respiration markedly increases the gradient of moisture loss. Heat leakage intostorage rooms will have similar effect. 3.2.4 Product Respiration Respiration produces water and heat, both of which have indirect effects on transpiration. The water produced remains within the fruit or vegetable tissue, whereas the heat is dissi-pated through direct heat transfer to the environment and through evaporation of water(. The heat of respiration raises the product temperature and, therefore, increases tran- spiration. Apples lose small amounts of moisture when in water-saturated environment, presumably at the same temperature as the fruit (. This loss can be attributed to theheat of respiration, which raises the temperature of commodity, creating vapor pressuredecit and thus increasing evaporation. 3.2.5 Size, Shape, and Surface of CommodityLarge fruits and vegetables possess smaller surface-to-volume ratio than small commodi- ties and thus tend to lose less moisture on per unit mass basis (5,. Larger fruits also generally possess thicker skins than smaller fruits, which could be another reason for thedifferences in transpiration rates (. The shape of product can also affect the ratio of surface area to mass. For example, long, thin, cone-shaped carrots lose more mass than thick, cylindrical-shaped ones (. Postharvest Physiology of Fresh Prod