A research on the determination of the technical properties of the packinghouses at Hatay district, encountered problems and the determination of the solutions

The citrus fruits have a considerable part of 35 % in the total income of the exportation of fresh fruits and vegetables of Turkey in 2007. Hatay district is one of the most important citrus fruits production centers. In the last a few years the number of the packinghouses have increased in accordance with the increase of the production areas in the district and reached a number of 38. These enterprises have important contributions on the economy of the district with their inducement on the employment and the added value.In this research the solutions on the problems of the packinghouses at Hatay district are investigated by examining the technical, managament and marketing properties of the packinghouses.The speed of the conveyors used at the enterprises is between 0.2-0.5 m/s. The temperature values of the degreening rooms are between 19 and 27 ? C and relative humidity changes between 87 and 96 %. The energy consumption of the enterprises is found as 2.29 kW-h/t and the total loss is found as an avarage of 12.75 %. The amount of packed fruit is 172.6 kg/h for mandarin, 295.4 kg/h for oranges and 349.3 kg/h for grapefruits.Key Words: Citrus Fruits, Exportation, Packinghouses