Toolkit

This section provides access to documents covering the many post-harvest activities associated with agricultural commodities.

Latest Toolkit

Cereals Processing Toolkit
Fermented cereal doughs and porridges are traditional staple products in many countries. Fermentation improves the digestibility of the cereal as it breaks down the starch. It also preserves the dough by reducing the pH and gives the food a distinctive sour taste. Examples include steamed fermented maize dough known as [...]
Instructional Manual 2007 FAO - AGS (English) Download document
Cereals Processing Toolkit
The term baking is usually applied to flour-based foods, for example wheat, oats, maize and sorghum. These grains and flours have a relatively long shelf life. The main purpose of baking is to change the eating quality of the staple and to add variety to the diet. It is also a [...]
Instructional Manual 2007 FAO - AGS (English) Download document
Cereals Processing Toolkit
Noodles can be made from a range of flours including rice, wheat, maize and potato. The dough can be processed in one of two ways- either rolled out into thin sheets of dough and cut into strands or extruded using a machine. The strands are then steamed and may either [...]
Instructional Manual 2007 FAO - AGS (English) Download document
Cereals Processing Toolkit
Tortilla is the most important corn food in Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, and Colombia. In Mexico, nearly 52% of the corn is used for human food, mainly in the form of nixtamalized (lime-cooked) products. In particular, the lower socioeconomics groups depend on tortillas as the main source of calories and [...]
Instructional Manual 2007 FAO - AGS (English) Download document
Fruit Processing Toolkit
Drying is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. It is still used widely to preserve foods for home consumption and for sale. Dried fruits are one of the most popular products made by small-scale processors. Drying removes the water from foods so that the growth of micro-organisms is inhibited. [...]
Instructional Manual 2007 FAO-AGS (English) Download document