INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

B.H.U.

Pre-harvest and Post-harvest factors

deteriorating the quality of fruits

BY:
Jiwan Paudel
I.A.S., B.H.U.
e-Mail: jiwanjungpaudel@gmail.com
 Postharvest Deterioration
Post-harvest food loss is defined as
measurable qualitative and
quantitative food loss along the
supply chain, starting at the time of
harvest till its consumption or other
end uses (Hodges et al., 2011).

 Almost 40–50 % of horticultural

crops produced in developing
countries are lost (Kitinoja 2002;
Ray and Ravi 2005).
 Indian Scenario
India is second largest producer of
food next to China with estimated
food processing industry size at US$
70 billion.

 In 2012, the production was 257

million tonnes of food grain (rice,
wheat, coarse grains and pulses)

 75 million tonnes of fruits and 149

million tonnes of vegetables.

 Out of these amounts, only 2.2 %

of these are processed. Nayyer et
al. 2015
 Main Cause of Post-harvest loss
Lack of temperature
management
 Rough handling
 Poor packaging material
 Lack of education about
the need to maintain
quality (Kitinoja et al.
2011)
 Pre Harvest Factors Affecting Post
Harvest Quality of Fruits
 Genetic factors

 Mineral nutrition

 Planting density

 Environmental Factors

 Pruning and thinning

 Irrigation

 Use of organic materials

 Plant growth regulators

 Maturity stage

 Time of harvesting
 Genetic factors
Several parameters of quality are
controlled genetically.

 horticultural breeding and

biotechnology could play a
significant role in improving and
maintaining postharvest quality

 the growers have the choice of

selecting preferred cultivars
prior to planting crops Kader
(2002).
 Mineral nutrition
Nutrients have significant impacts on
fruit quality

 These include effects on fruit color,

texture, disease susceptibility, juice
composition, and the development
of physiological disorders (Singh et
al. 2013).

 High Ca uptake in fruits reduces

respiration rate and ethylene
production (Singh et al. 2013).
 Planting density
High density planting (HDP) increases
competition between plants, reduces light
availability, and thus may decrease fruit
quality.

 Total soluble solids were decreased with

increasing plant density in muskmelon
(Mendlinger S. 1994).

 Increasing planting density decreased

fruit quality (fruit weight, colour,
soluble solids, sucrose, glucose,
fructose, sorbitol, malic and citric acid)
in apple (Stampar et al. 1998).
 Environmental Factors
The syntheses of bioactive compounds
are also affected directly by various
environmental factors (Hewett EW
2006).

• (Wurr et al. 1996) reported that kiwi

grown under higher temperatures
matured earlier that the same crops
grown under lower temperatures.

• High rainfall and the consequences

on fruit growth also increase
incidence of skin cracking disorders,
such as found in cherries (Sekse L.
1995)
 Pruning and thinning
Pruning treatment reduced disease
percentage of anthracnose and
stem-end of mango.

 Fruits of severe and medium

pruning had more TSS content
in ber (Khan and Hossain
1992).

 Shoot pruning is also helpful in

reducing the tree size and
improving the fruit quality of
guava (Lal et al. 2000)
 Irrigation
Water stress not only reduces crop productivity
but also tends to accelerate fruit ripening
(Henson 2008)

 Decreasing fruit moisture loss during storage

significantly decreased the incidence of
pathological and physiological disorders
(Bower and Cutting1987).

 Sunburn and cracking in apples is caused by

moisture stres, and increase in temperature at
maturity will lead to fruit cracking and burning
in litchi (Kumar and Kumar 2007).
 Use of organic materials
Sawdust mulch reduced
physiological disorders in apple
fruit and increased the Ca and K
concentrations in the leaves
(Lang et al. 2001).
 Organic management in apple
may delay on-tree fruit
ripening and also improve the
fruit eating quality (Eman et
al. 2007).
 Vermicompost is another
important organic input to
enhance the productivity of
horticultural crops.
 Plant growth regulators
(Gill et al. 2012) observed that
the application of GA3at 20 ppm
reduced the seed number in pear
fruits by 61 per cent over
control.
 Fruit size increase due to
cytokine and gibberellins
application to apple and
grapes was suggested to be
cause by increased cell
division and elongation and
cell wall extensibility
(Emongor et al. 2001), (Yu et
al. 2001)
 Maturity stage
Maturity always has a
considerable influence on the
quality of fresh produce as well
as the storage potential and
occurrence of many storage
disorders (Siddiqui and Dhua
2010)

 Maturity at harvest has a major

impact on quality and
postharvest life potential of
fruits and vegetables (Kader
AA 1999).
 Time of harvesting
Fruits harvested before 10 AM in
the morning and transported to
pack house for sorting, grading,
and packing yield better quality
and lasts longer (Ahmad and
Siddiqui 2015).

 It is desirable that the fruits are

harvested during the cooler
parts of the day to reduce the
risk of heat injury and
sunburn (Yahia EM 2011).
 Post Harvest Factors Affecting Post
harvest Quality of Fruits
Horticultural crops differ from cereals
and pulses with respect to certain
natural characteristics like moisture
content, texture, unit size, etc.

 Besides, these perishable

characteristics of the horticultural
produce, inadequate arrangements
for post-harvest management like
storage, preservation, processing
and marketing facilities lead to
problem of post- harvest losses
(Mitrannavar, 2012).
 Pre Cooling
It is desirable that fresh produce
like grapes, mandarins, berries,
cherries, leeches, melons, stone
fruits, okra, tomatoes, capsicum,
chili peppers, cucumbers, green
beans, peas, spinach should be
cooled as rapidly as
possible (CCDC 2010).
 Delays in the pre-cooling will
reduce the final quality and
shorten the postharvest
life (Kitinoja and Kader
2002).
 Shorting and grading
Shorting and grading of fruits
prevents damaged produce to
get mixed with undamaged ones
leading to lesser probability of
transfer of diseases, prevent the
original color, flavor, aroma etc.

 Differentiating the produce

on the basis of size, color,
range of damage, ripening
stage- lead to better post
harvest life leading lesser
damage.
 Packaging and packaging materials
Fruits are fragile products and
therefore need packaging to protect
them from mechanical damage
(Thompson and Mitchell 2002).
 The packages should also be well
ventilated (Hofman et al. 2013)
 (Anwar, et al. 2008) also reported
that most mangoes packed in
wooden crates which apart from
causing physical injuries and bruises
during transit are being restricted in
international markets on account of
quarantine and special
disinfestations treatments mandatory
for international trade.
 Storage
(Liu 1991) reported that in developing
countries the common storage facilities
are air-cooled common storage houses
which rely on natural cold air.
 Recommended storage temperature
and relative humidity for cabbage,
lettuce and carrots are 0 to 2 °C and
95 to 100% respectively.
Recommended storage temperature
and relative humidity for mangoes,
avocados, papayas and potatoes are
13-15 °C and 85-90%,
respectively (CCDC 2010).
 Transportation
Transportation is vast and the most
important factor in the marketing of
fresh produce. Transport takes
produce from the producer directly
to the consumer (FAO 1989).

 High temperatures and the

buildup of gases that accelerate
enzyme activity (and thus cause
over-ripening or softening) and
microbial activity are factors that
contribute to the deterioration of
fruit harvests (Agona and
Muyinza 2008).
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