is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing.

study the principles governing the biological processes that occur in harvested crops

covers the specific parts of the crop in which the processes occur and the changes of these parts after harvest.

the study of the changes in the physical characteristics of the commodity

specific term used to cover the integration of these sciences and handling technology of perishable crops.

Some terminologies to expound

Causes of losses in post harvested fruit and vegetables

Breathing, development and senescence, diseases and pathologies.. DECCO as a postharvest company has developed products that combined with its equipment and the expertise of its employees can maximize the profitability of your postharvest management.

This damage can be caused by mechanical risk such as: blows, rubbing... or ambient risks like: high/low temperatures, toxic gases.

The consequences of postharvest losses can be split in two,l

economic losses due to:

maintain the fresh state of the commodity and the safety of those used as food while being brought to consumers on time, and to meet buyers' specifications and trade requirements such as quarantine treatment.

transform the produce into a stable preserved product that can usually be no longer converted into another form.

Why there is a need for Postharvest?

Postharvest Losses

a decline in the availability, utility and saleable weight

a decline in the acceptability of the consumers

FACTORS AFFECTING THE FRESH PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS SYSTEM

refers to the external and internal characteristics used to describe that commodity relative to a standard of excellence.

genetic characteristics of a crop that are important in postharvest handling are:

CLIMATIC FACTORS

Temperature during growth and maturation affects the following:

Abnormalities associated with high temperature

Production Practices

What are the preharvest crop protection?

pruning or cutting of tops ora portion of the tops of cassava 20 – 40 days before harvest. It decreases vascular streaking and hydrocyanic acid (HCN).

the cutting of the potato vines about a week before harvest. It hastens toughening of the potato peel and reduces injury and moisture loss after harvest.

done for pineapple and tomato to hasten the ripening of fruits resulting in harvests that ripen uniformly for concentrated harvest.

2 – chlorophenoxy propanic acid when applied at 37 days before harvest reduced the incidence and severity of blackheat of Quen Victoria pineapple fruit during storage at 16 degrees Celsius. Blackheart is a symptom of chilling injury.

Types of Maturity

It is the stage of development when the plant part possesses the necessary characteristics preferred by consumers. It is used as a basis for deciding when to harvest for commercial purposes but it varies especially for vegetables depending on the intended use of the commodity, the preference of the consumer, the variety and whether it is going to be stored or not.

Is the stage of development when the commodity has attained maximum growth and development. It applies to fruits and fruit vegetables. It is the end of their development stage when they have developed the ability to ripen normally after harvest. It is in this stage at which the external and internal characteristics of the fruit allow normal ripening after harvest.

These are signs or indications of the readiness of the plant for harvest. It is the basis for determining harvest date. The characteristics of the commodity at different stages of maturity using a particular type of indices are called “maturity standards.”

CONSIDERATIONS IN HARVESTING

Packing house operation

Special treatment after packaging

The treatment is to control insect pest

is a high temperature [(26.5-32°C) (80-90°F)] and high relative humidity (90-98% RH) treatment immediately after harvest.

Curing temperature and relative humidity

The total duration of the curing treatment ranges from ?

There are two steps in the curing process.

is the production of a waxy suberin material and its deposition in the cell walls.

Curing should begin as soon as possible after harvest, ideally within

generally refers to the rapid cooling of a commodity to a desired temperature soon after harvest before it is stored or transported.

is the series of steps needed to keep produce at low temperature from the time they harvested until they are purchased by the final consumers.

Cooling Method

is a method of removing heat from an enclosed area and releasing this heat to the outside environment.

is the temperature of adiabatic saturation. This is the temperature indicated by a moistened thermometer bulb exposed to the air flow

Wet Bulb temperature can be measured by using a

refers basically to the ambient air temperature.

It is called "Dry Bulb" because?

presents physical and thermal properties of moist air in a graphical form. It can be very helpful in troubleshooting and finding solutions to greenhouse or livestock building environmental problems.

POSTHARVEST IMPACT OF INSECT PESTS

IMPORTANT INSECT PESTS OF HORTICULTURAL PERISHABLES

these are the destructive pests of legumi nous crops. The insect leaves brown spots or holes where larva enters. As it feeds inside the pod,

-examples are the eggplant fruit borer and citrus rind borer that infest the fruits starting at the early stage.

infested fruits become unsightly and lose their marketability due to the growth of sooty mold on honeydew secretions of the insect.

the adult feeds and oviposits in the root of sweet potato, garlic cloves, ginger rhizomes and pulp of mango.

these are the most destructive pests of fruits and vegetables.

are laws, regulations and procedures instituted by countries to pro tect human, animal, plant life or health and negotiated ender the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT).

(GATT).

(SPS)

SPS measures typi cally deal with the following:

Is a legally enforceable restriction for the importation of produce in order that the introduction or spread of a pest may be prevented or limited or in order that an already introduced pest may be controlled or eradicated.

-pests that have not yet been introduced into ASEA

-pests that are already present in one or more countries of ASEAN

has established the maximum residue level (MRI) for each of certain pesticides used for fruits and vegetables MRL is

is an official document which attests to the phytosanitary status of any consignment affected by phytosanitary regulations.

is any treatment that kills or otherwise render incapable of establishment quarantine pests at a predetermined level of control

-treatment that kills, removes or otherwise inactivate pest whether they are of quarantine importance or not, in a commodity, to any level of control

degree of statistical probability needed by a quarantine treatment to disinfest host pro- duce so that upon transport or shipment of the treated produce, the targeted pest cannot he established in any area where they do not exist yet

statistical treatment of quantitative assay data that provides the basis for quarantine secu rity

Factors to consider in the development of a quar- antine treatment

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TREATMENT

is a chemical that at required temperature and pressure can exist in gas form in sufficient concen tration to kill an insect or organism (Table 21-4). It has knockdown effect and is readily degraded. The neces sary dosage is expressed as the product of concentra tion x time.

Common fumigants

commercially available fumigant called ""

It is a physical method of controlling insect pests, hence does not pose health risks from chemical residues and is therefore more acceptable to consumers.

- also known as high hu midity hot air treatment, this consists of gradually rais- ing fruit temperature in a water vapor-saturated atmo- sphere until the required disinfestation temperature is attained.

In 'Solo' papaya, the chamber temperature is increased to 47°C for 3 hours with RH maintained below ?

alternative fumigants that have shown some promise for insect control.

is a relatively new treatment option.

The treatment objective in the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary measure is to prevent introduction and spread of regulated pests by achieving certain responses in the targeted pest such as mortality, aborted develop- ment (eg, adult emergence), inability to reproduce (eg.. sterility) and inactivation.

This involves exposure of fruit to very low temperature For specified period and is ideal 15 in-transit treatment