Post Harvest Management of Fruits and Vegetables

Post-harvest technologies constitute an interdisciplinary science and techniques applied to agricultural commodities after harvest for preservation, conservation, quality control, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, marketing and utilization to meet the food and nutritional requirements of consumers in relation to their needs. Again, fruits and vegetables are highly perishable commodities and the ambient high temperature obtained in a tropical country like ours makes them more susceptible to rapid development of senescence, decay and rotting. Both respiratory and transpiration rates are proportional to temperature, increases and so that the produce quickly dries, wilts and spoils unless properly preserved.