Postharvest

 ( Horticulture ) 

In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. The instant a crop is removed from the soil, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate. Postharvest treatment largely determines final quality, whether a crop is sold for fresh food consumption, or used as an ingredient in a processed food product.

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Goals The most important goals of post-harvest handling are to keep the product cool and safe, to avoid moisture loss and slow down undesirable chemical changes, and avoiding physical damage such as bruising, to delay Food spoilage. Sanitation is also an important factor, to reduce the possibility of that could be carried by fresh produce, for example, as residue from contamination washing water.

After the field, post-harvest processing is usually continued in a packing house. This can be a simple shed, providing shade and running water, or a large-scale, sophisticated, mechanization facility, with , automation sorting and packing stations, walk-in and the like. In mechanised harvesting, processing may also begin as part of the actual harvest process, with initial cleaning and sorting performed by the harvesting machinery.

Initial post-harvest storage conditions are critical to maintaining quality. Each crop has an optimum range of storage temperature and humidity. Also, certain crops cannot be effectively stored together, as unwanted chemical interactions can result. Various methods of high-speed cooling, and sophisticated refrigeration and atmosphere-controlled environments, are employed to prolong freshness, particularly in large-scale operations.

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Postharvest shelf life Once harvested, vegetables and fruits are subject to the active process of degradation. Numerous biochemistry continuously change the original composition of the crop until it becomes unmarketable. The period during which consumption is considered acceptable is defined as the time of "postharvest shelf life".

Postharvest shelf life is typically determined by objective methods that determine the overall appearance, taste, flavor, and texture of the commodity. These methods usually include a combination of sensory analysis, biochemistry, mechanical, and colorimetric (optical) measurements. A recent study attempted (and failed) to discover a biochemical Biomarker and fingerprint methods as indices for freshness.

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Postharvest physiology Postharvest physiology is the scientific study of the plant physiology of living plant tissues after picking. It has direct applications to postharvest handling in establishing the storage and transport conditions that best prolong shelf life.

An example of the importance of the field to post-harvest handling is the discovery that ripening of fruit can be delayed, and thus their storage prolonged, by preventing fruit tissue respiration. This insight allowed scientists to bring to bear their knowledge of the fundamental principles and mechanisms of respiration, leading to post-harvest storage techniques such as cold storage, gaseous storage, and waxy skin coatings.

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See also

• Post-harvest losses (fruit and vegetables)
• Post-harvest losses (grains)

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External links

• Postharvest Biology and Technology Journal ()
• Writtle Postharvest Unit; Research & Training
• Postharvest Technology Research & Information Center
• Lopez-Camelo, Andres. Manual for the preparation and sale of fruits and vegetables – from farm to market. FAO, Rome 2004
• FAO Information Network on Post-harvest Operations INPho

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