New post harvest technologies for high quality sweet cherries

Abstract

Sweet cherry cultivation is growing worldwide with new production areas with a high volume of international transactions. The high perishability of fruit limits sales in demanding domestic markets, which are highly sensitive to the combination of high prices and low-quality fruit; however, the introduction of new innovative technologies during postharvest extends the fruit quality by countering the marketing time and complexities associated with export. This paper reviewed the primary information associated with the postharvest handling of sweet cherries, highlighting the innovative technologies related to the harvest operation, the temperature management in the cold chain, the main postharvest treatments in the packing line, including the modified atmosphere packaging technology.