Introduction and Overview - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 8

Figure 1.5. Regional and world citrus group fruit production, 1990-2010 (not shown: Oceania, with < 1% of

world total) (source: FAO, 2011).

total fruits (including about 54 lbs fresh + 52 lbs juice
+ 11 lbs canned + 3 lbs frozen + 2 lbs dried). The to-
tal included 37.1 lbs citrus fruits (including about 30.4 lbs
oranges + 2.4 lbs grapefruits + 1.6 lbs limes + 1.5 lbs
lemons + 1.2 lbs tangerines) plus 85.5 lbs noncitrus
fruits (including 10.1 lbs bananas, 5.4 lbs pineapples,
0.8 lb mangos, 0.8 lb olives, and 0.2 lb papayas).
Despite all the efforts of the various governmental and
industry organizations to encourage increased consump-
tion of fruits, the average fruit consumption in the United
States is still much below recommendations of at least two
servings (200 g) per day.

Maintaining the cold chain and the modified atmosphere
chain, when needed, are very important to preserving qual-
ity and safety of intact and fresh-cut fruits throughout their
distribution systems and to globalization of produce mar-
keting. Other postharvest technologies, such as the use
of the anti-ethylene action gas (1-methylcyclopropene),
surface coatings, postharvest fungicides, heat treatments,
ionizing radiation, ozone, ethylene scrubbers, and modi-
fied atmosphere packaging, are supplements to the most
important technologies that are focused on maintenance
of optimal ranges of temperature and relative humidity
(Kader, 2003). A major challenge in postharvest han-
dling of tropical and subtropical fruits is their suscepti-
bility to chilling injury if exposed to temperatures below
5 ◦ -12 ◦ C (depending on the species), which limits their
postharvest life.
Research aimed at identifying maturity and quality in-
dices for a broad range of fruits has resulted in develop-
ment of many nondestructive methods of quality evaluation
(Abbott et al., 1997; Knee, 2002). Near-infrared (NIR)
spectrophotometry is used commercially to differentiate
some fruits according to their sugar content. Fruit bounce
firmness measurement and acoustic impulse transmission
technologies are used to separate fruits, such as avoca-
dos and mangoes, based on their firmness. Development
of nondestructive quality evaluation technologies contin-
ues to be a very active R&D area (Florkowski et al.,
2009).

CURRENT POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY,
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS
Current trends that are expected to continue in the future
include globalization of produce marketing, consolidation
or formation of alliances among producers and marketers
from various production areas, consolidation of retail mar-
keting organizations, and increased demand for year round
supply of many produce items with better flavor. Other
trends include shifting toward more sustainable production
and marketing systems, increased demand for organic pro-
duce and locally produced foods, use of processing and
packaging technologies that preserve flavor and nutritional
quality of produce, and increased efforts to assure safety of
food products.