Post Harvest Management of Fruits and Vegetables

Post-harvest technologies constitute an inter-disciplinary science and techniques applied to agricultural commodities after harvest for the purpose of preservation, conservation, quality control, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, marketing and utilization to meet the food and nutritional requirements of consumers in relation to their needs. Again, fruits and vegetables are highly perishable commodities and the ambient high temperature obtained in the tropical country like ours makes them more susceptible for rapid development of senescence, decay and rotting. Both respiratory and transpiratory rates are proportional to temperature, increases and so that the produce quickly dries, wilts and spoils unless properly preserved. In this course, the various changes that takes place in the fruit or vegetable after harvesting as well as the maturity indices for harvesting a particular crop will be discussed. The students will also learn about post harvest handling of the crops so as to enhance the shelf life of the crops. The course will also discuss on the various principles involved in preservation of fruits and vegetables along with the various techniques used in the preservation of fruits and vegetables.