Post-harvest Technologies for Handling Operations of Fruits

Abstract

Post-harvest technologies have enabled horticultural companies to satisfy worldwide needs for localized markets with large-scale production and international transportation of fresh products. Customers worldwide have regarded fruits as a crucial part of a healthy diet. Besides this, they also have wonderful tastes, containing plentiful minerals and well-being properties. Harvested items remain metabolically active, experiencing maturation or fatuity mechanisms that can be managed to maintain quality after harvest. The producer or grower has a prime role in preserving the quality of crops after harvest, which is very critical. The lack of post-harvest processes (precooling, transportation, storage, and packaging) may lead to significant nutritional and overall quality losses, deadly pathogenic epidemics, and economic difficulties for all parties in the supply chain, from producers to customers. Adequate post-harvest operations help to slow down maturation or senescence, reduce the risk of microbial infection, and inhibit the incidence of physiological diseases. Advances in post-harvest techniques include chemical treatment (1-Methylcyclopropene, Nitric Oxide, Salicylic Acid, Carboxymethyl Cellulose, Gum Arabic), physical treatments (hot water, hot air, Ultraviolet-C radiations, high-pressure processing, and edible coating), biocontrol agents, plasma techniques, etc. This review article described the advanced status of post-harvest treatments to uphold the standard of excellence and eliminate losses of fresh produce. Highlights: • Post-harvest operations generally include cleaning, washing, grading, and packing fresh produce. • Fruits have a very short storage life, which leads to losses and poor quality. • Post-harvest operations extend the storage life while maintaining its qualitative attributes. • To maintain and extend shelf life, a variety of physical, chemical, and gaseous treatments are available.