Articles
What Is Dry Matter Content and Why It’s Crucial for Fresh Produce Quality?
Dry matter is measured on farms to monitor maturity and determine the optimal harvest time for climacteric fruits and vegetables. In the postharvest stage, dry matter is used for quality control for sorting and grading fresh produce. Dry matter determines the storage, transport, and ripening conditions to achieve optimum quality and extended shelf life. Wholesalers,… Continue reading…
Additional reading
What Are the Best Melon Harvest Maturity Indices?
The harvest maturity indices vary based on the melon groups. The physical harvest maturity indices are size, shape, weight, color, firmness, stem detachment, and tendril condition. The chemical harvest maturity indices include Brix/sweetness, titrable acidity, taste, and aroma. The optimal harvest maturity index for melon differs for each accession. Several aspects of the ripening process must… Continue reading…
Advances in Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for Root Crop Quality Detection
Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is an interesting technology because it can detect quality nondestructively, rapidly, and precisely. NIR spectroscopy can correctly estimate internal quality parameters like protein, sugar, water content, starch, and anthocyanins. NIR spectroscopy helps in the early detection of potato diseases and their severity. NIR spectroscopy for root crops has been applied in laboratories,… Continue reading…
What Is the Best Blackberry Harvest Maturity Index for Quality?
Color is the chief harvest maturity index. Other appearance parameters, such as firmness, size, and weight, are also used. Chemical harvest maturity indices, especially the latter, are crucial, including total soluble solids (sugar content), titrable acidity, and taste. Blackberries for processing require different harvest maturity indices and increasingly use dry matter. Harvest maturity indices are… Continue reading…
How Does Bruise Susceptibility in Fresh Produce Impact Quality and Harvest Timing?
Bruise susceptibility varies based on the species, cultivar, and physical and physiological properties of fresh produce. The critical bruising threshold estimates the bruise susceptibility of fruits at different firmness. A critical bruising threshold has been used to develop a harvest maturity index that identifies the minimum firmness (or maximum maturity) for harvesting stone fruits. Bruising… Continue reading…
What Is the Best Plum Harvest Maturity Index?
Taste or sugar/acidity ratio is the plums’ most reliable harvest maturity index. A new plum harvest maturity indicator has been developed that combines firmness at maximum maturity with sugar content. No single quality parameter can be used alone as a harvest maturity index for plums. Plum Characteristics Plums, which are classified as climacteric fruits, have… Continue reading…
What Causes Postharvest Senescence in Fresh Produce
Senescence is one of the top two postharvest processes that cause food loss of fresh produce by curtailing shelf life. Ethylene production, programmed cell death, and cellular energy supply are significant processes associated with senescence in postharvest fresh produce. The mechanisms by which the three processes cause senescence are not entirely understood. Premature senescence and… Continue reading…
