Evaluation of Postharvest Handling of pepper Fruits (Capsicum frutescens)by Marketers in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Pepper is consumed all year round but the production is seasonal coupled with poor postharvest handling methods. The study examined the current post harvest handling methods of pepper fruit (Capsicum frutescence) and constrains faced by handlers. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Five markets were purposively selective in Ibadan, Oyo State. Namely Sasa, Bodija, Erunmu, Station and Odo-Ori where 20 respondents each were randomly selected making total sample size of 100 respondents. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from the respondents. The questionnaire elicited responses on the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics, techniques of handling pepper fruit in transit and its preservation. The data was analysed with frequency distribution. The result indicated that majority (56%) of the marketers were males while 67% were married and 81% had formal education. The majority (69%) were within the age range of 31-50 years. The house hold size of majority (84%) of the respondent was between 6-11 persons. Most pepper handlers engaged in only pepper sales without any other profession. Most (64%) of the Pepper marketers buys fresh pepper fruits due to inadequate storage facility. Seventy-four percent of the handlers obtained pepper fruit from wholesaler and most handlers (65%) packaged fruits in second hand rice grain bags while thirty-five percent packaged in baskets. The finding also showed that Sixty-nine percent of respondents preserved leftovers sales by spreading on cemented floor. The sign of mouldiness, off flavour and maggot were the most noticeable sign of deterioration observed after 3-5 days. Pepper fruits were transported roughly on commuters’ buses, usually loaded tightly and transported on bad roads. All these inappropriate treatments promoted deterioration and shorten the shelf life of pepper fruit. High transportation cost, absence of training of personnel involved in loading and unloading, bad roads were observed to be major constraints to pepper fruit handlers. Therefore it is recommended that pepper fruits should be transported using appropriate packaging materials such as harvesting cardboard which will facilitate adequate ventilation, avoid compression of fruits and proper stacking, ease of loading and unloading, prevention of cuts and bruises.