Harvesting early in the morning or at night, when it's cool, can save growers 38 to 54 per cent in energy consumption while improving the quality of the picked melon. The higher the temperature of the fruit, the greater the need for refrigeration for pre-cooling and the greater the cost. Once harvested, exposing the fruit to the sun causes shrivelling and rapid quality deterioration. The fruit can loose 0.3 per cent of its total weight every hour. If harvested in the middle of the day, the initial reduction from the field temperature of 30 C to 40 C, to the sorting and packing temperature of 15 C is critical, and must be carried out within a few hours.
Low temperature reduces the rate of ripening, deterioration and sugar loss.
Postharvest Dippings Chlorine washes reduce the hazard of infecting the fruit during the washing with pathogenic micro-organism. However, the anti-microbial activity and stability of the chlorine solution depends on the pH, the temperature and organic matter in the solution. A word of warning, chlorine is not effective against pathogens which are embedded in damaged tissues or injured fruit. These chemicals must be mixed in the above specified order. If not the mixture is useless.