Postharvest handling

Postharvest diseases
Monica Hfte
Dept. Crop Protection

Introduction

Estimation of postharvest losses

Quantitative losses
worldwide about one third of all fruits and
vegetables produced are never consumed by
humans
in developing countries more losses occur
between production and retail sites

Qualitative losses
loss in edibility, nutritional quality, caloric value,
consumer acceptability
Postharvest diseases - introduction

Estimated postharvest losses of fresh produce

Locations

Developed countries

Developing countries

Range
(%)

Range (%)

Mean (%)

Mean (%)

From production
to retail site

2-23

12

5-50

22

At retail,
foodservice and
consumer sites

5-30

20

2-20

10

Cumulative total

7-53

32

7-70

32

Postharvest diseases - introduction

Nature of postharvest deterioration

Physiological changes
Respiration rate,ethylene production,
compositional changes, water stress, chilling
injury, sprouting and rooting

Physical damage
caused by the weather, insects, birds, rodents,
farm implements

Chemical injury
Pathological decay
Postharvest diseases - introduction

Postharvest diseases
In this course, we deal with post harvest diseases
on perishable tropical produce
staple foods: root and tuber crops
seeds (grain and legume moulds)
vegetables and fresh fruits, including perishable export
crops

Can occur during the growing season, at harvest

time, during handling, storage, transport and
marketing, or even after purchase by the
consumer
Postharvest diseases - introduction

Micro-organisms responsible for

postharvest losses
Fungi are the predominant causative agents
can enter by wounds, natural openings or direct
penetration

Bacteria can cause postharvest soft rot diseases

of vegetables, but are rarely a problem in other
products
can enter by wounds or natural openings

Virus diseases do not infect fresh products after

harvest, but their symptoms may develop or
intensify among certain root or tuber crops in
storage
Postharvest diseases - introduction

 Postharvest pathogens are mostly

nonobligate, necrotrophic parasites that
kill and partially digest their host during
parasitism
In fruits, infections can be latent or
quiescent until ripening
grains and nuts in storage

losses usually associated with infestations of

rodents and insects
mycotoxin producing fungi
Postharvest diseases - introduction

Wound pathogens

Latent infections

Postharvest diseases - introduction

Socio-economic factors causing

postharvest losses

Inadeqate marketing systems

Inadequate transportation facilities
Government regulations and legislations
Unavailability of needed tools and
equipment
Lack of information
Poor maintenance
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Control of postharvest diseases

Grains and nuts
storage at properly low product moisture content
cleanliness
control of insect infestations

Fresh products
integrated strategies

refrigeration
fungicides in the orchard/postharvest
sanitation in the field and packinghouses
measures to minimize wounding

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11

Control of postharvest diseases continued

alternative methods

Specialized cultural practices

Biological control
Physical methods
Reduced-risk chemical treatments
Genetic resistance
Biotechnological measures

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