Eco-Friendly Technology for Postharvest Produce Quality

Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780128043134
• eBook ISBN: 9780128043844
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Agribusiness
• Index: Business

Eco-Friendly Technology for Postharvest Produce Quality presents the scope of emerging eco-friendly technologies to maintain the postharvest quality of fresh produce in terms of safety and nutrition. The book covers an analysis of the alternative and traditional methodologies pointing out the significant advantage and limitations of each technique. It provides a standard reference work for the fresh produce industry in postharvest management to extend shelf life by ensuring safety first and then nutritional or sensory quality retention.Fruits and vegetables are a huge portion of the food supply chain and are depended on globally for good health and nutrition. The supply of good food, however, greatly depends on good postharvest handling practices. Although substantial research has been carried out to preserve the quality of fresh horticultural produce, further research—especially on safety—is still required. This book provides foundational insights into current practices yielding best results for produce handling.- Includes appropriate approaches, technologies, and control parameters necessary to achieve shelf-life extension without compromising produce quality- Presents successful food safety methods between the time produce is harvested to consumption- Includes the latest information on preservation technologies using novel chemical methods, active packaging, and monitoring the effect of environmental stresses on quality and shelf life of agricultural produce

1

New insights on postharvest ecophysiology of fresh horticultural crops

Endrit Kullaj Agricultural University of Tirana, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Koder-Kamez, Tirana, Albania

Abstract

There is an increased awareness of the role of preharvest abiotic stresses on the quality of horticultural products and their retention, although there is a need for more pertinent research and technological advances, especially under climatic change scenarios. Another impetus for such a focus on research should be that consumers are looking for the nutraceutical values of fruits and vegetables, that is, their constituents such as carotenoids, flavonoids and other polyphenols, phenolic acids, and other phytonutrients, which are even more susceptible to variations in temperature, relative humidity, concentrations of oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc. An attempt was made equally to exemplify the main horticultural crop species; frequent reference to some of these is related to the level of scientific reports, which relates to their storability (pome fruits vs. stone fruits), short lifecycle (vegetables vs. fruits), and economic importance. An example of physiological mechanisms is climacteric (eg, tomato, apple, or banana) and nonclimacteric (eg, strawberry, citrus, and grape berries) fruits. References to other reviews on specific crops or quality attributes have been made as well. Among the large spectrum of biochemical and structural modifications during the growth and maturation of harvested plant parts, those with a major impact on global quality and storability are referred to and discussed how abiotic stresses affect these. We focus on the role of abiotic factors on processes related to structural modifications of the flesh due to depolymerization of principal components of cell walls and loss of cell turgor, which affect texture. Other important processes discussed at some detail involve modifications of nutritional and organoleptic value of fruits due to an increase in mono- and disaccharides following starch hydrolysis and/or de novo synthesis, biosynthesis of volatile compositions, and the degradation of organic acids. Modifications of color due to a degradation of chlorophyll and accumu...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• About the Editor
• Acknowledgments
• 1: New insights on postharvest ecophysiology of fresh horticultural crops
• 2: Advances in controlled atmosphere storage of fruits and vegetables
• 3: Recent trends in active packaging in fruits and vegetables
• 4: Advances in modified atmosphere packaging of fruits and vegetables
• 5: Recent developments of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatments on fruit quality attributes
• 6: Impact of brassinosteroids on postharvest physiology of fruits and vegetables
• 7: Polyamines as an ecofriendly postharvest tool to maintain fruit quality
• 8: Impact of salicylic acid on postharvest physiology of fruits and vegetables
• 9: Chitosan: properties and roles in postharvest quality preservation of horticultural crops
• Subject Index