Agriculture and Nature Conservation Secondary Agriculture

Perishable Produce Quality Assessment & Classification Training

SAQA US 252168 | NQF 4 | Credits 5 | Duration 2 Days
From $832 per delegate

Description

This course equips learners with the knowledge and skills to apply quality assessment principles in the classification of perishable produce. Participants will learn to evaluate produce quality based on established standards, identify defects, and assign appropriate grades. The course ensures compliance with industry regulations and enhances supply chain efficiency.

Learning Outcomes

  • Apply quality assessment principles to evaluate perishable produce
  • Classify perishable produce according to industry standards and grading systems
  • Identify and document defects, blemishes, and other quality indicators
  • Demonstrate proper sampling and inspection techniques
  • Ensure compliance with relevant food safety and quality regulations
  • Communicate classification results effectively to stakeholders

Target Audience

This course is intended for quality controllers, produce inspectors, warehouse supervisors, and supply chain professionals involved in the handling and classification of perishable fruits, vegetables, and other fresh produce.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment

Course Outline

Day 1: Fundamentals of Perishable Produce Quality

Objectives:
• Understand the key quality attributes of fresh produce (appearance, texture, flavour, nutritional value)
• Identify common defects and disorders in fruits and vegetables
• Explain the role of temperature, humidity, and handling in quality deterioration
• Apply basic sensory evaluation techniques for quality assessment

Topics:
• Introduction to perishable produce: categories, supply chain, and quality standards
• Quality parameters: colour, size, shape, firmness, brix, acidity, and blemishes
• Common physiological disorders and pathological defects (e.g., chilling injury, decay)
• Post-harvest handling practices and their impact on quality
• Sensory evaluation: sight, touch, smell, and taste assessment
• Overview of classification systems: South African grading standards (e.g., Class 1, Class 2)
• Tools for quality assessment: penetrometer, refractometer, colour charts
• Practical exercise: visual inspection and defect identification

Day 2: Classification, Grading, and Quality Assurance

Objectives:
• Apply official classification and grading standards for selected produce types
• Use objective measurement tools to quantify quality parameters
• Document quality assessments and classify produce according to regulatory requirements
• Implement quality control procedures to ensure consistency and compliance
• Analyse case studies of quality failures and corrective actions

Topics:
• Detailed grading standards for apples, citrus, tomatoes, and leafy greens
• Use of measurement instruments: firmness tester, refractometer, pH meter, colourimeter
• Sampling methods and statistical quality control basics
• Documentation: inspection forms, traceability, and certification
• Quality assurance protocols: cold chain management, hygiene, and packaging
• Regulatory framework: SAQA unit standard requirements and industry codes
• Case studies: common quality disputes and root cause analysis
• Practical exercise: complete grading assessment of mixed produce samples

Practicals

6 hours of practicals To be conducted online or on-campus or in-house
Overview

Hands-on practical sessions are essential for developing sensory and instrumental assessment skills. Learners engage in real produce inspection, defect identification, and grading using standard tools to meet unit standard outcomes.

Practical Activities
  • Visual Inspection and Defect Identification — Learners examine various fruit and vegetable samples, identify common defects and disorders, and record findings on inspection sheets. (2h)
  • Instrumental Quality Measurement — Learners use penetrometer, refractometer, and pH meter to measure firmness, brix, and acidity on selected produce, and interpret results against grade standards. (2h)
  • Grading and Classification Exercise — Learners classify a mixed batch of produce (apples, oranges, tomatoes) into Class 1, Class 2, or reject according to South African grading standards, and complete a grading report. (2h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total
Component Out of Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored) 100% 30%
Daily Average (multiple choice) 100% 20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice) 100% 50%
Final Total 100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

Certificate of Completion

Awarded to delegates who achieve an overall mark of 50% or higher on the Final Total (Practicals 30% + Daily Average 20% + Final Test 50%).

How it works
  • Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
  • Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
  • You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
  • If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.
Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.

Upcoming Training Sessions
Online training — attend live sessions from anywhere via our virtual classroom.
Start End Delivery Season Price Action
Wed 09 Sep 2026 Thu 10 Sep 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $832 Register
Thu 01 Oct 2026 Fri 02 Oct 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $832 Register
Mon 19 Oct 2026 Tue 20 Oct 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $832 Register
Wed 09 Dec 2026 Thu 10 Dec 2026 Virtual Summer 2026 $832 Register
Thu 14 Jan 2027 Fri 15 Jan 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $832 Register
Mon 15 Feb 2027 Tue 16 Feb 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $832 Register
Tue 02 Mar 2027 Wed 03 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $832 Register
Wed 10 Mar 2027 Thu 11 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $832 Register
Thu 18 Mar 2027 Fri 19 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $832 Register
Mon 07 Jun 2027 Tue 08 Jun 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $832 Register
Tue 29 Jun 2027 Wed 30 Jun 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $832 Register
Wed 21 Jul 2027 Thu 22 Jul 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $832 Register
Thu 09 Sep 2027 Fri 10 Sep 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $832 Register
Mon 27 Sep 2027 Tue 28 Sep 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $832 Register
Tue 19 Oct 2027 Wed 20 Oct 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $832 Register
Wed 08 Dec 2027 Thu 09 Dec 2027 Virtual Summer 2027 $832 Register
Thu 30 Dec 2027 Fri 31 Dec 2027 Virtual Summer 2027 $832 Register
Mon 17 Jan 2028 Tue 18 Jan 2028 Virtual Summer 2027 $832 Register
On-Campus training — face-to-face sessions at our training venues across Africa and beyond.
Showing all 492 sessions across 26 venues
Start End Venue Season Price Action
Tue 11 Aug 2026 Wed 12 Aug 2026 Durban, South Africa Winter 2026 $1,895 Register
Tue 11 Aug 2026 Wed 12 Aug 2026 Pretoria, South Africa Winter 2026 $1,247 Register
Tue 11 Aug 2026 Wed 12 Aug 2026 Cape Town, South Africa Winter 2026 $2,057 Register
Thu 13 Aug 2026 Fri 14 Aug 2026 Abu Dhabi, UAE Winter 2026 $4,217 Register
Thu 13 Aug 2026 Fri 14 Aug 2026 Dubai, UAE Winter 2026 $4,217 Register
In-House training — we bring the trainer to your organisation, tailored to your team.
Start End Delivery Season Price Action
Thu 17 Sep 2026 Fri 18 Sep 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,080 Register
Mon 05 Oct 2026 Tue 06 Oct 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,080 Register
Tue 27 Oct 2026 Wed 28 Oct 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,080 Register
Thu 17 Dec 2026 Fri 18 Dec 2026 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,080 Register
Mon 18 Jan 2027 Tue 19 Jan 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,080 Register
Tue 23 Feb 2027 Wed 24 Feb 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,080 Register
Wed 10 Mar 2027 Thu 11 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,080 Register
Thu 18 Mar 2027 Fri 19 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,080 Register
Mon 22 Mar 2027 Tue 23 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,080 Register
Tue 15 Jun 2027 Wed 16 Jun 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,080 Register
Wed 07 Jul 2027 Thu 08 Jul 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,080 Register
Thu 29 Jul 2027 Fri 30 Jul 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,080 Register
Mon 13 Sep 2027 Tue 14 Sep 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,080 Register
Tue 05 Oct 2027 Wed 06 Oct 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,080 Register
Wed 27 Oct 2027 Thu 28 Oct 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,080 Register
Thu 16 Dec 2027 Fri 17 Dec 2027 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,080 Register
Mon 03 Jan 2028 Tue 04 Jan 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,080 Register
Tue 25 Jan 2028 Wed 26 Jan 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,080 Register
Training Discounts
Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% off per 5 delegates, up to 40% for 100+

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