This work presents a study to compare the orange Valência (Citrus sinensis O.) cooling with forced-air cooling and hydrocooling. The forced-air cooling system operated with air flow of 1933m³/h, at 1ºC, RH= 88,4 ± 2,0% and air velocity around 1m/s. The experiments with immersion hydrocooling systems with capacity of 0,23m³ of water at 1ºC, approximately. The half-cooling time and seven-eighths cooling time, they are determinate with the temperature data, made two repetitions. The results showed that the cooling the bed fruits, with air cooling, is not homogeneous, and obtained cooling time average, between 107min and 170min, depending on the position the fruit in the package. In the hydrocooling system, the cooling of the bed fruits happens uniformly in the bed, with average cooling time of 57min.
refrigeration; cooling time; pre-cooling
