Don't fiddle with the symbol table when just a simple hash of code refs will do.

sub noop { 1; }
my %funcs = (
              apple   => [\&apple_wash, \&apple_core, \&apple_pulp,],
              bananas => [\&banana_bend, \&banana_hang, \&noop,],
            );

## . . . 

for my $i ( @items ) {
  unless( exists $funcs{ $type } ) {
    warn "Bad type `$type'\n";
    next;
  }
  $_->( $item ) foreach( @{ $funcs{ $type } } );
}
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Of course it might make more sense to just make your items proper objects rather than using a dispatch table.