Transcript Postharvest Losses of Fruits and Vegetables

Postharvest Losses
of
Fruits and Vegetables
Yoram Fuchs
Dept. of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce
ARO, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel
Postharvest loss:
Is defined as any change in the quality or quantity of
the product after harvest that decreases its value.
The losses may range from slight defects to total loss
of the produce!
Small defects
(rind breakdown)
Total loss
(sour rot)
Fighting Hunger by Saving Perishables
Jorge Luis Alonso · 02-10-2008
• President and CEO of the Global Cold Chain
Alliance, spoke to a special United Nations
Forum on the global food crisis at United
Nations headquarters in New York City. Among
many things said that countries without proper
cold chain infrastructure lose about 30 to 60%
of all perishable products each year before they
even get to the table. He argued that the
solution to combating world hunger involves
more than just producing more food, but
reducing losses through “proper postharvest
technologies.
• The primary goals of research on
postharvest biology and technology of
fresh produce are to reduce losses in
quantity and quality and to maintain
safety between harvest and
consumption sites.
THE STRATEGIES FOR
ATTAINING THESE GOALS
INCLUDE:
(1) Growing cultivars that have good flavor
and nutritional quality plus long
postharvest-life potential when harvested
at optimum maturity
(2) using an integrated crop management
system that maximizes yield without
sacrificing quality
(3) using optimal postharvest handling
practices to maintain quality and safety
of the food products.
• The postharvest story starts at production.
Therefore, efforts should be made to integrate
production with postharvest management.
• Food loss reduction is normally less costly than
equivalent increases (in quantity) in food
production.
• There is a need for a sound foundation in
developing integrated postharvest management
systems for fruit and vegetables, with proper
infrastructural facilities and logistic support.
• The idea is to try, as far as possible, to maintain the
initial product quality.
• Usually there are both losses in quantity and in
quality
Estimated Levels of Postharvest
Losses in the Asia Pacific Region
COUNTRY
India
Indonesia
Iran
Korea
Philipines
Sri-Lanka
Thailand
Vietnam
R.S. Rolle, Agr.Industries Officer, FAO, 2004
LEVEL OF LOSS (%)
40
20 – 50
>35
20 – 50
27 – 42
16 – 41
17 – 35
20 - 25
CAUSES OF POSTHARVEST
LOSSES
• External factors
Mechanical injuries
Parasitic diseases
• Internal factors
Physiological deterioration
RAW MATERIAL
• No Matter how perfect postharvest
operations are, good returns cannot be
obtained from poor quality raw materials
• Pre-harvest essential factors:
-Select suitable varieties
-Apply proper crop management
-Conduct proper disease and pest control
-Harvest at the appropriate maturity stage
-Apply proper harvesting practices in
order to minimize damage at time of
harvest
Effect of ripeness stage and drop
height on incidence of internal
bruising in tomatoes (‘Solar set’)
Drop height
Fruit with internal bruising (%)
cm
Green stage
Breaker stage
0
0.0
0.0
10
5.0
73.0
20
5.0
100.0
30
45.0
100.0
Two drops on opposite sides.
Extracted from
SA Sargent at al. HS719 UF/IFAS, Fla. 2006
SANITATION:
before, during and after harvest
Dropped fruit and plant debris
– a source of infection.
Remove it from the grove.
Dropped fruit
collected for
elimination
Repeatedly used infected packages
and tools – a source of infection. The
tools must be cleaned and sterilized.
Used carton packages should be
discarded.
POSTHARVEST LOSSES MAY OCCUR AT DIFFERENT
STEPS DURIN THE MARKETING CHAIN
Losses at harvest: injuries, pressure damage
Losses at the packinghouse: chemicals, brushes
and wax damage
Losses during storage: chilling injuries, decay,
peel disorders
Losses during transport: bruising, deformation,
decay
Losses at retail: decay, softening, wilting
Losses at the consumers: decay, softening, wilting
Losses during harvest
Pressure damage
Mechanical injury
Spliting
Long button injury
WOUNDING BY THE STEMS
MECHANICAL DAMAGE
BIN DAMAGE
Losses at the packinghouse
Chemical spray injuries
Many studies showed that hot water dips (2-3 min at 53ºC)
reduces decay development.
Recently, a new method combining a short hot water
rinsing and brushing treatment (55-60ºC for 20-30 s) was
developed to clean and disinfect agricultural products.
Hot tank damage
Brushes damage
Wax damage
Losses during Storage
Decay
MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE STORAGE OF
TOMMY ETKINS MANGO
Physiological disorders
Chilling
injuries
Stem-end
Rind breakdown
Rind breakdown
CHILLING INJURIES
CHILLING INJURIES
Losses at various stages of
marketing of two mango varieties
Losses at
level of
HARVEST
Kind of loss
(damage)
Mechanical
‘Totapuri’
loss (%)
0.73
‘Alphonso’
loss (%)
0.80
Spoilage
(decay)
1.41
0.68
Bird damage
0.20
0.26
Over-ripe
0.69
0.13
Pilferage
0.21
0.00
Hail storm
0.28
0.03
Total
3.52
1.90
Losses at various stages of
marketing of two mango varieties
Losses at
level of
Transport
Kind of loss
(damage)
Breakage
And whole- Spoilage
sale
(decay)
market
Over-mature
Immature &
unmarketable
size
Total
‘Totapuri’
loss (%)
1.24
‘Alphonso’
loss (%)
1.63
0.77
1.31
1.07
0.51
1.77
0.17
4.85
3.62
Losses at various stages of
marketing of two mango varieties
Losses at
level of
STORAGE
Kind of loss
(damage)
Over-mature
& srivelling
Spoilage
(decay)
Total
‘Totapuri’
loss (%)
1.67
‘Alphonso’
loss (%)
1.39
2.43
2.11
4.10
3.50
Eight to nine days after harvest, including five days in the
market.
Srinivas et al J. Food Sci. Technol 1977. 34:70-72
Bangalore, India
Losses at various stages of
marketing of two mango varieties
Losses
at level
of:
RETAIL
Kind of loss
(damage)
‘Totapuri’ ‘Alphonso’
loss (%)
loss (%)
Overmature &
shrivelling
Spoilage (decay)
2.08
3.37
2.57
1.34
Pilferage
0.78
0.58
Total
OVERALL LOSS
5.43
17.92
5.39
14.37
Postharvest Losses in Selected Commodities in Taiwan (1993)
(%)
Commodity
Transport
Wholesale
Retail
Total
Chinese
cabbage
4
23
5
31
Turnip
2
10
4
16
Green bean
3
1
0
4
Watermelon
11
1
0
12
Papaya
2
7
14
23
Carambula
2
6
7
15
Apple
2
1
3
6
Banana
0
3
7
10
Wiils, McGlasson, Graham and Joyce (1998)
IN SUMMARY
It is necessary to pay special attention along the
various stages of the handling of the commodity
(from harvest, packinghouse treatments,
storage, transport, retail and consumers) to
avoid postharvest losses.
Proper infrastructure, logistics and management
and human resources are essential to maintain
improved postharvest procedures and
marketing of fruits and vegetables.
Thank you!
Fighting Hunger by Saving Perishables
Jorge Luis Alonso · 02-10-2008
• President and CEO of the Global Cold Chain
Alliance, spoke to a special United Nations
Forum on the global food crisis at United
Nations headquarters in New York City. Among
many things said that countries without proper
cold chain infrastructure lose about 30 to 60%
of all perishable products each year before they
even get to the table. He argued that the
solution to combating world hunger involves
more than just producing more food, but
reducing losses through “proper postharvest
technologies.