Articles
Controlled Atmosphere Facilities: What Are the Different Types?
Different Types of Controlled Atmosphere Facilities for Fresh Produce Controlled atmosphere (CA) facilities alter temperature, relative humidity, and the concentrations of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ethylene. CA works by slowing biological activity such as respiration, transpiration, ripening, and senescence, and by limiting physiological disorders, insect damage, and disease. Commercial CA types available are standard, static,… Continue reading…
Additional reading
What Is Crop Phenotyping and Why Is It Essential for Modern Crop Breeding?
Genetic diversity in wild relatives of crops can provide crucial inputs to improve food production. High-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) methods can improve the efficiency of crop breeding research and crop monitoring in precision agriculture. Portable quality meters can be integrated into HTPP systems for biochemical and sensory fruit quality parameter phenotyping Crop phenotyping is the… Continue reading…
What Affects Melon Quality? Common Postharvest Problems and How to Prevent Them
Musk melon cultivars can develop physical, physiological, and pathological disorders that degrade quality in the postharvest stages. Mechanical damage and excessive free moisture are the physical problems. The physiological problems are quality loss due to exposure to endogenous or exogenous ethylene and chilling sensitivity. Diseases caused by pathogens carried on the melon rind have led… Continue reading…
What Are the Latest Fresh Produce Storage Technologies Extending Shelf Life?
Technological innovations for storage have to slow the physiological processes that cause premature ripening, senescence, and quality loss, and shorten shelf life. Environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity, and gas composition must be tailored to specific fresh produce to extend shelf life and preserve quality. Stakeholders need precise control over environmental factors to slow… Continue reading…
Postharvest Mechanical Damage and Its Effects on Fresh Produce Quality
Mechanical damage occurs most during harvest, sorting, grading, packaging, and distribution transport stages. The mechanical damage types are impact, compression, friction, puncture, vibration, and cutting. The mechanical damage phenotypes can include bruising, tissue collapse, perforation, cracking, and breaking. Internal factors and external environmental conditions in the postharvest chain are crucial in determining the extent of… Continue reading…
How Do Postharvest Microbial Treatments Extend Fresh Produce Shelf Life?
Fruits and vegetables harbor a microbiome on their surfaces that interacts with them to influence fruit quality. Fruit/plant-microbial interactions can be used in postharvest management to control spoilage microbes, thereby improving fresh produce quality and shelf-life. These microbial-plant/fruit interactions include competition, mycoparasitism, volatile secretions, microbial biofilms, quorum sensing, and systemic resistance induction. Postharvest spoilage, quality… Continue reading…
What Is Postharvest Physiology and Why Does It Matter for Fresh Produce Quality?
The crucial postharvest physiological processes that lead to deterioration in the quality of fresh produce include respiration, transpiration, ethylene production, and enzymatic activity. Temperature, air gas composition, relative humidity, and handling are common factors that can be controlled to slow these physiological processes. Maintaining and controlling the environment is essential to preserving quality and shelf… Continue reading…
