Pak Choi Handbook

Post Harvest Procedures

Harvest
The pak choi crop is harvested on Day 35. The individual pak choi plants should weigh 1 pound (~450 grams) at this point in the production cycle. It is easy to damage harvested plants with rough handling. Pak choi is very turgid and brittle, and careful handling of the crop should be of high priority to the grower.

The pak choi plants are removed from NFT troughs and are either packaged directly or placed in a cooler for packaging later. Packaging is determined by the grower and the consumer. A number of different forms of packaging are available. The technical details of harvesting depend on the type of packaging used.

Storage
Proper post-harvest storage is vital in pak choi production. Damage to the crop at this stage can easily occur if the product is not placed directly into the cooler after harvest to remove the heat from the crop. Ideal conditions for storage are in a 1^oC (34^oF) cooler. With daily transport of the product to market, the pak choi may remain in the cooler for less than one day, but should be cooled for at least 12 hours to remove the heat from the crop. For highest quality, the pak choi should be moved to market almost immediately. Unfortunately, market conditions are often not optimum for pak choi. Properly refrigerated pak choi will retain high quality for at least 7 days. The cooler should be kept at a high humidity level to avoid desiccation of the crop.

Transportation
The harvested product should be cooled before shipping. To ensure a high quality product upon arrival at the market, the product must be transported in a refrigerated vehicle.