Chilli

Harvest

For fresh use, chilli can be harvested either at the green immature or mature red stage. It takes about 55-60 days after flowering for fruits to fully ripen, depending on temperature, soil fertility, and cultivar. Warmer temperatures will hasten ripening, and cooler temperatures will delay ripening. If condi­tions are favourable, chilli production can continue for several months. Fruits can be harvested weekly. On an average 20-30 tonnes of chilli fruits can be harvested from one hectare of crop.

Fresh chilli fruits should not be washed unless they will be kept cool (10°C) until sold. Fruits should be stored in a cool, shaded, dry place until they are sold. At typical tropical ambient temperature and hu­midity (28°C and 60% RH), fruits will last unspoiled for 1-2 weeks. Anthracnose is the major cause of fresh fruit spoilage.

For dry chilli, it's im­portant to preserve the red color of the mature fruits. Drying them in the sun is a common practice, but this tends to bleach the fruits, and rainfall and dew promote fruit rot. Solar dryers have been developed, but they re­quire fairly constant sunshine. Cloudy weather increases the drying time and the risk of post-harvest spoilage. Blanching the fruits in hot wa­ter (65°C) for 3 minutes and removing the pedicel and calyx can decrease drying time, increase color retention, and reduce post-harvest losses. In gen­eral, cultivars with low dry matter content and thick flesh are difficult to dry and are generally sold fresh. If ovens are available, dry fruits for 8 hours at 60°C, then reduce the temperature to 50°C and continue until fruits are completely dry (about 10 more hours).