Name: San Esteban, Frances Louie DL.

Course and Section: BSA ll-4

Date: 10-18-22

Assignment No. 4
Crop Science 2: Approaches and Practices of Crop Production
Post-Harvest Quality and Safety Management

Direction: Discuss the following items comprehensively. Include figures/illustrations.

Introduction
Horticultural commodities' postharvest quality and shelf life are significantly
influenced by a number of preharvest variables, including cultivation methods, cultivar
features, and environmental conditions throughout growth and development. The postharvest
quality, postharvest deterioration, and storage potential are significantly influenced by the soil
and climatic features and integrated management strategies. Preharvest measures and
practices, such as the use of cultivars with a longer postharvest life and the use of integrated
crop management systems that maximize yield and quality and reduce postharvest disorders,
should always be incorporated into strategies for maintaining postharvest quality and safety
and reducing postharvest losses and waste. Postharvest handling, in agriculture, is the phase of
crop production that occurs right after harvest and includes cooling, cleaning, sorting, and
packing. A crop starts to degrade the moment it is lifted out of the ground or cut off from the
parent plant.

1. Quality Factors

• Appearance (Visual) Quality Factors

- Genotype, maturity stage, harvest method, timing, and applicable technologies that influence the
circumstances throughout postharvest chain sorting and grading, packaging, storage, and transportation
are the key post-harvest elements affecting fruit and vegetable quality.
 • Textural (Feel) Quality Factors
- Textural qualities including firmness, softness, juiciness, chewiness, and grittiness can be felt
in the mouth and on the hand. A food's texture is frequently a key factor in determining how
much or how little we like it. The eating quality of meals is largely influenced by their texture,
which can also have a significant impact on calorie intake and nutrition. Food composition and
structure are intimately related to perceived texture, and both microscopic and macroscopic
levels of structure can affect texture.

• Flavor (Eating) Quality Factors

- Aspects of flavor include scents that are detected by the nose as well as tongue sensations,
such as sweet, salty, sour, and bitterness. Although these phrases are frequently used
interchangeably, the former is frequently referred to as flavors and the latter, scents.

• Nutritional Quality Factors

- These include the crop and cultivar, postharvest processing and storage, fertilizer applications,
cultural techniques, and soil parameters like pH, available nutrients, texture, organic matter
content, and soil-water connections. Weather and climatic factors also have a role. Include age,
gender, growth, disease states, and genetic makeup.

2. Safety Factors
- The ratio between a measurement of the maximum load that won't cause the stated type of
failure and the equivalent measurement of the maximum load that is anticipated to be applied
is the most frequent way to express a safety factor. Make sure the harvesters are wearing tight
attire and holding their hair back to prevent tangles. Establish defined emergency and
entanglement protocols. Never repair, alter, or unjam a machine while it is running. Avoid
discharges, outlets, and any machine parts that are moving.

3. Factors Influencing Quality and Safety of Horticultural Crops

- These include the crop and cultivar, postharvest processing and storage, fertilizer applications,
cultural techniques, and soil parameters like pH, available nutrients, texture, organic matter
content, and soil-water connections. Weather and climatic factors also have a role.

• Genetic Factors
- A plant's growth is influenced by its genotype. For instance, under the same environmental
conditions, certain types of rice develop quickly and reach maturity in just 110 days, while other
varieties grow more slowly and reach maturity in 155 days. By selecting a certain variety, a
producer has control over the genetic component. Terrain, climate, soil characteristics, and soil
water are all environmental elements that have an impact on how much crop cultivation is
practiced.

• Climatic Conditions
- Increased temperature, changed precipitation
conditions and increased CO2 content in the
atmosphere are the major climatic factors
affecting crop production. Rise in atmospheric
temperature will lead to loss of soil moisture
and will increase the crop demand for water.

• Cultural Practices
- Cultural practices are age-old agricultural techniques that increase crop output by saving soil
and water, as well as by lowering weed, insect, and disease populations. They are easy to do
and don't need a lot of technical know-how or chemical use.

4. Maturity at Harvest in Relation to Quality

- The most crucial element affecting fruit quality and storage life is maturity at harvest.
Immature fruits have a lower flavor quality when ripe and are more susceptible to mechanical
damage and shriveling. When a fruit reaches maturity, it is prepared for harvest. The fruit or
vegetable's edible portion is now fully grown, however it may not be suitable for immediate
consumption.

5. Method of Harvesting in Relation to Physical Damage and Uniformity of Maturity

- Starch or sugar content measurements can be used to gauge harvest ripeness. Typically, a Brix
hydrometer or refractometer is used to calculate the total soluble solids concentration to
determine the sugar content. Iodine is used to quantify the amount of starch by measuring its
content.
6. Temperature and Relative Humidity Management
- To reduce humidity, run a dehumidifier, employ
exhaust fans, open a window if the outside air is dry,
keep doors closed, and take shorter showers. To
enhance humidity, turn on a humidifier, put a bowl of
water next to a heater, let your laundry air dry, and get
some houseplants.

• Cooling Methods
- To reduce humidity, run a dehumidifier, employ exhaust fans, open a window if the outside air
is dry, keep doors closed, and take shorter showers. To enhance humidity, turn on a humidifier,
put a bowl of water next to a heater, let your laundry air dry, and get some houseplants. In
systems that use water cooling, a liquid typically water is pumped through pipes. The liquid
disperses the heat that is generated by the components in a radiator. While In the air cooling
system, heat is transferred through the cylinder walls and then dispersed directly into the air.

• Refrigerated Transport and Storage

- Foods that need to be stored at a cool temperature but not a freezing temperature are
referred to as needing refrigerator storage. Food deterioration can be significantly slowed
down by refrigeration. Low temperatures slow down the rate of chemical, including enzymatic,
changes in food and the growth of microbes.

• Cols Chain
- The employment of technology in the movement of perishables is known as the cold chain.
Foods including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, seafood, and medical supplies spoil quickly if
the temperature is not controlled and end up as trash.

7. Minimizing Produce Contamination

• Treatments to Reduce Microbial Contamination

- Additionally, sterilization, pasteurization, and irradiation could render germs inactive for
reproduction and growth, preventing contamination. Additionally, it has been found that
ozonation and steam sterilization are effective at reducing microbial development in herbs.
 • Treatments to Minimize Water Loss
- The main method of reducing the vapour pressure deficit (VPD), thereby also reducing
moisture loss, is to increase RH in the cool room air. Humidifying storage rooms is relatively
simple, as all that is required is to add water, usually as a fine mist. However, adding mist can
also lead to soft, damp packaging, floor puddles and increased disease if products become wet.
Moreover, adding free water at rooms close to zero increases frosting on the refrigeration coils,
leading to longer and more frequent defrost cycles.

• Treatments to Reduce Ethylene Damage

- Ethylene is a greenhouse pollutant as well as a beneficial regulator of plant development.
Plants may be exposed to low quantities of ethylene during production for weeks or even
months at a time. The source of ethylene is typically an inefficiently vented or broken heater,
and the effects include stunted or deformed growth and delayed flowering that may render a
crop unmarketable.

• Treatments for Decay Control

- The majority of postharvest procedures involve picking, grading, and packing the fresh
product. Some crops, however, require unique care or treatments. Before being kept for a long
time in storage, some root crops, like potatoes and some tropical root crops, may need to have
their roots cured.

8. Enhancing Quality

• Modified Atmosphere Storage

- By reducing the physiological, chemical, and microbiological breakdown of food in an
atmosphere that differs from the typical composition of air, modified-atmosphere technologies
aim to increase the shelf life of food products.

• Ethylene Exclusion and Removal

- The production of ethylene is abruptly stopped when tissues are exposed to anaerobic
environments. When these tissues are exposed to air again, ethylene synthesis ramps up much
more quickly than it does in control tissues that have not been exposed to such anaerobic
circumstances. However, this elevated rate is momentary and quickly returns to the regulated
level.

• ROI in Reducing Ethylene Damage

- By employing substances that absorb ethylene, such as potassium permanganate, from the
storage environment, one can slow down ripening.