Postharvest Biology and Technology of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

Fundamental Issues

Elhadi M. Yahia

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781845697334
• eBook ISBN: 9780857093622
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Agribusiness
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Tropical and subtropical fruits are popular products, but are often highly perishable and need to be transported long distances for sale. The four volumes of Postharvest biology and technology of tropical fruits review essential aspects of postharvest biology, postharvest technologies, handling and processing technologies for both well-known and lesser-known fruits. Volume 1 contains chapters on general topics and issues, while Volumes 2, 3 and 4 contain chapters focused on individual fruits, organised alphabetically.Volume 1 provides an overview of key factors associated with the postharvest quality of tropical and subtropical fruits. Two introductory chapters cover the economic importance of these crops and their nutritional benefits. Chapters reviewing the postharvest biology of tropical and subtropical fruits and the impact of preharvest conditions, harvest circumstances and postharvest technologies on quality follow. Further authors review microbiological safety, the control of decay and quarantine pests and the role of biotechnology in the improvement of produce of this type. Two chapters on the processing of tropical and subtropical fruit complete the volume.With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, Volume 1 of Postharvest biology and technology of tropical and subtropical fruits, along with the other volumes in the collection, will be an essential reference both for professionals involved in the postharvest handling and processing of tropical and subtropical fruits and for academics and researchers working in the area. - Along with the other volumes in the collection, Volume 1 is an essential reference for professionals involved in the postharvest handling and processing of tropical and subtropical fruits and for academics and researchers working in the area - Focuses on fundamental issues of fruit physiology, quality, safety and handling relevant to all those in the tropical and subtropical fruits supply chain - Chapters include nutritional and health benefits, preharvest factors, food safety, and biotechnology and molecular biology

1

Economic importance of tropical and subtropical fruits

Z. Mohamed, I. AbdLatif and A. Mahir Abdullah, University of Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Abstract:

Asian countries are among the largest producers of tropical and subtropical fruits in the world. The top five tropical and subtropical fruits in terms of production volume are watermelon, orange, grape, banana and tangerine/mandarin. China is the largest producer of watermelon, Brazil of oranges, Italy of grapes and India of bananas. Most of the fruits are consumed as food in fresh and processed form. EU countries are the main destination for tropical and subtropical fruits, consuming nearly 50% of the total world export, while also supplying temperate and subtropical fruits to the global fruits market. The importance of fruit production for the economic development of a country can be seen in its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employment through agriculture. Most less-developed countries depend on agriculture as a major source of income and employment. Price demand elasticities for most fruits are elastic.

Key words

tropical

subtropical fruits

producers

GDP

employment

consumption

elasticities

prices

1.1 Introduction

There are a very large number of different tropical and subtropical fruits, yet only 50 or so are well known in most parts of the world (Martin et al., 1987). The estimated gap between world per capita consumption (54.9 kg per year) and estimated consumption saturation (100 to 120 kg per year) is considerable (TFNet, 2003). According to Galán Saúco (1996) and Katz et al. (2003), tropical and subtropical fruit can be divided into three groups based on production and trade figures, (with some overlap between categories). The first group, ‘major fruits’, include crops such as banana and plantain, citrus, coconut, mango and pineapple. These are cultivated in most tropical and subtropical countries and are found in international markets as well as local ones. The next group, ‘minor fruits’ (e.g. avocado, breadfruit, carambola, cashew nut, durian, guava, jackfruit, litchi, macadamia, mangosteen, papaya, passion fruit, sapodilla and soursop) are not cultivated as extensively. Trade in these crops (and therefore also consumption) is likely to be less widespread, both geographically and quantitatively. Nevertheless, some of these minor fruits, such as carambola, durian and mangosteen from South-East Asia are of considerable economic significance in regional markets (Anang and Chan, 1999). The last group, ‘wild fruits’, are not cultivated commercially. They come from various botanical families and have generally not been well characterized (Katz et al., 2003).

1.2 World fruit production and contribution to gross domestic product (GDP)

1.2.1 Global production of tropical and subtropical fruits

According to the world food balance sheets published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the total world fruit supply in 2005 was 517 million tonnes. It comprised 514 million tonnes of fruit production, 107 million tonnes of imports and 106 million tonnes of exports (stock variations accounted for 2 million tonnes). Asia contributed 46% of the total world fruit production, while the Americas contributed 26%. Europe, Africa and Oceania held 14%, 13% and 1% of the share of world fruit production in 2005, respectively (Fig. 1.1) (FAOSTAT, 2008).

Fig. 1.1 World fruit production share by continent.

The total world production for the ten most popular fruit types in 2008 was over 431 million tonnes. As shown in Fig. 1.2, watermelons, bananas, grapes, oranges, mangoes and tangerines are among the most produced around the globe. Other important fruits include pineapples, papayas, other citrus fruits and dates (FAOSTAT 2008).

Fig. 1.2 World production of selected tropical fruits.

World fruit production has increased over the years. There has been an increase of 17% for the ten fruit types for the past five years, as shown in Table 1.1. The production increase was a response from producers to the general increase in demand for tropical and subtropical fruits worldwide. As illustrated in Fig. 1.3, higher production growth was observed for bananas and watermelons, in contrast to a lower growth rate for grapes and oranges from 2003 to 2008. The nature of the crops in question could account for this: short-term crops such as banana and watermelon can respond quickly to increased demand, while longer-term crops such as grapes and oranges cannot.

Table 1.1

World tropical and subtropical fruit production by fruit types (tonnes), 2003-2008

Source: FAOSTAT (2008)

Fig. 1.3 Production trends for ten most popular fruits.

Tables 1.2 to 1.5 illustrate the main fruit producing countries by fruit types. The tables show that Chin...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributor contact details
• Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition
• Dr Adel Kader
• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Economic importance of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Chapter 2: Nutritional and health-promoting properties of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Chapter 3: Postharvest biology of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Chapter 4: Preharvest and harvest factors infl uencing the postharvest quality of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Chapter 5: Postharvest technologies to maintain the quality of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Chapter 6: Postharvest pathology of tropical and subtropical fruit and strategies for decay control
• Chapter 7: Quarantine pests of tropical and subtropical fruits and their control
• Chapter 8: Microbial safety of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Chapter 9: Biotechnology and molecular biology of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Chapter 10: Fresh-cut tropical and subtropical fruit products
• Chapter 11: Preservation and processing of tropical and subtropical fruits
• Index