Food science articles
What are Harvest Maturity Indices? Why are they Important?
Harvest maturity indices can be fresh produce’s physical, chemical, physiological, or chronological attributes. The choice of harvest maturity indices will differ and must be based on species and economics. The optimum methods to measure harvest indices are objective, quantitative, non-destructive, and easy to use. Fresh produce suffers the maximum loss and waste. One reason is… Continue reading…
How to Use Mango Harvest Maturity Indices to Improve Fruit Quality and Yield
The mango harvest maturity indices can be physical, computational, physiological, and biochemical attributes. Physical indices are simple but subjective and unreliable. Biochemical harvest maturity indices are the most reliable, and standard NIR spectroscopy-based non-destructive estimation methods are the best. Mango fruits must be harvested at optimum maturity to continue developing internal and external quality attributes… Continue reading…
What Are Kiwifruit Harvest Maturity Indices and Why Are They Important?
Dry matter content and soluble sugars are two quality parameters widely used as harvest maturity indices for kiwifruits. Dry matter is increasingly becoming the standard harvest maturity index because it is correlated to postharvest taste, consumer acceptance, and storability of kiwifruits. The two harvest maturity indices are used as they can be estimated non-destructively in… Continue reading…
How to Improve Fresh Produce Supply Chain Risk Management for Better Food Safety
Supply chain risk management for fresh produce can include macro-level, external, and internal risks. Macro and external risk factors are outside a business’ control and can affect more than one location in the supply chain. Internal risks that cover a business’s operations, processes, and control measures can be managed using controlled atmosphere facilities and monitoring… Continue reading…
How Do the Effects of Ethylene on Flower Quality Impact Floriculture?
Ethylene is one of the main factors affecting flower and ornamental plant quality and longevity in the entire floriculture supply chain. Ethylene inhibits growth, branching, flower bud abortion, and leaf and flower abscission, reducing the quality and longevity of floriculture products. Floriculturists can increase ROI by monitoring and reducing ethylene levels in greenhouses, storage, distribution,… Continue reading…
How Fruit Quality Monitoring Improves Sustainability and Reduces Food Loss
Fruit quality monitoring is an integral part of the fresh produce supply chain. Fruit quality monitoring improves productivity and reduces food loss on farm and postharvest stages to enhance food security and responsible production. The environmental impacts indirectly through quality monitoring are reduced carbon footprint, less water resource depletion and pollution, and better biodiversity protection… Continue reading…
How Does Controlled Atmosphere Storage Extend Fruit Shelf-Life?
Controlled atmosphere temperature and relative humidity are critical for ripening and storage. The three gases that need to be measured and controlled are ethylene, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. Several conditions, including gas composition, are reversed during the ripening and storage stages of the supply chain. Each postharvest stage of fresh produce requires specific conditions to… Continue reading…
How Degreening of Citrus Fruits Enhances Appearance and Quality
Artificial degreening changes only citrus peel color and does not affect other quality parameters. Several citrus factors, like maturity at harvest and cultivar-specific ethylene sensitivity, will influence degreening success. Postharvest degreening is the standard procedure and requires careful consideration of cultivars to determine atmosphere conditions, ethylene concentrations, and exposure duration to achieve the desired results.… Continue reading…
Postharvest Technology for Non-Climacteric Fruits: Best Practices and Benefits
Non-climacteric fruits have a short storage life as they must be harvested ripe. Several steps, like precooling and treatments, prepare the non-climacteric fruits for quality retention. Modified atmospheric packaging, controlled atmospheric storage, and different packaging systems maintain suitable environmental conditions during storing, transportation, and marketing to extend shelf life. Ripening is the last stage of… Continue reading…
How the Fruit Ripening Process Affects Freshness and Quality
Respiratory rate, ethylene sensitivity, and production are the main criteria for differentiating ripening patterns. Respiratory peaks that trigger ethylene production start the ripening process in climacteric fruits. Ethylene sensitivity, production, and respiration hike are minimal or absent in non-climacteric fruits. Several fruits show varying degrees of ethylene sensitivity and production and defy neat classification in… Continue reading…
