Introduction and Overview - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 13

utilization of cold storage and refrigerated transport facil-
ities are among the reasons for failure of the cold chain
in developing countries. Cost of providing the cold chain
per ton of produce depends on energy costs plus utilization
efficiency of the facilities throughout the year. There is a
great variation among and within countries in the extent of
compliance with quality standards and food safety regula-
tions, which is associated with the extent of participation
in the global marketing of fresh fruits. Successful exporters
of fresh fruits from developing countries must follow the
required quality standards and safety regulations, such as
avoiding microbial contamination, and requirements for
traceability of the importing companies and/or countries.
Strategies for improving handling of fruits in develop-
ing countries include: (1) application of current knowledge
to improve the handling systems of horticultural perish-
ables and assure their quality and safety; (2) removing the
socioeconomic constraints, such as inadequacies of infras-
tructure, poor marketing systems, and weak research and
development capacity; and (3) overcoming the limitations
of small-scale operations by encouraging consolidation and
vertical integration among producers and marketers of each
commodity or group of commodities (Kader, 2010).

analysis critical control points (HACCP), will continue to
be very critical to successful marketing of fresh produce.
There is a wealth of information about all aspects of
postharvest technology available on the Internet. A list of
the most useful websites is included as part of the “Refer-
ences” section.

REFERENCES
Abbott JA, Lu R, Upchurch BL, Stroshine R. 1997. Tech-
nologies for nondestructive quality evaluation of fruits and
vegetables. Hort Rev 20: 1-120.
Abeles FB, Morgan FB, Saltveit ME. 1992. Ethylene in Plant
Biology . 2nd ed. San Diego, CA: Academic. 414 p.
Amarante C, Banks NH. 2001. Postharvest physiology and
quality of coated fruits and vegetables. Hort Rev 26:
161-238.
Baldwin EA. 1994. Edible coatings for fresh fruits and veg-
etables: Past, present, and future. In: Baldwin EA, Ha-
genmaier R, Krochta JM, editors. Edible Coatings and
Films to Improve Food Quality . Lancaster, PA: Technomic.
p 25-64.
Barrett DM, Somogyi L, Ramaswamy HS, editors. 2004. Pro-
cessing Fruits: Science and Technology . 2nd ed. Boca Raton,
FL: CRC Press. 864 p.
Bartholomew DP, Paull RE, Rohrbach KG, editors. 2002. The
Pineapple: Botany, Production, and Uses . Wallingford, UK:
CAB International. 320 p.
Beaudry RM. 2000. Responses of horticultural commodities
to low oxygen: Limits to the expanded use of modified
atmosphere packaging. Hort Technol 10: 491-500.
Ben-Yehoshua S, editor. 2005. Environmentally Friendly Tech-
nologies for Agricultural Produce Quality . Boca Raton, FL:
CRC Press. 534 p.
Blankenship SM, Dole JM. 2003. 1-Methylcyclopropene: A
review. Postharv Biol Technol 28: 1-25.
Bruhn C, Gorny JR, Kader AA, Mitcham EJ. 2009.
Produce irradiation: Recommendations for maintaining
produce postharvest quality, safety and marketability.
http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/datastorefiles/234-1208.pdf .
Burg SP. 2004. Postharvest Physiology and Hypobaric Stor-
age of Fresh Produce . Wallingford, UK: CAB International.
654 p.
Buzby JC, Wells HF, Axtman B, Mickey J. 2009. Supermar-
ket loss estimates for fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry,
and seafood and their use in the ERS loss-adjusted food
availability data. Econ Info Bull 44 . Washington, DC: US
Department of Agriculture. 26 p.
Chakraverty A, Mujumdar AS, Raghavan GS, Ramaswamy
HS, editors. 2003. Handbook of Postharvest Technology:
Cereals, Fruits, Vegetables, Tea, and Spices .NewYork:
Marcel Dekker. 884 p.
Droby S, Wisniewski M, Macarisin D, Wilson C. 2009. Twenty
years of postharvest biocontrol research: Is it time for a new
paradigm? Postharv Biol Technol 52: 137-45.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
The postharvest handling systems for fresh fruits begin with
harvesting and involve preparation for fresh market or for
processing (e.g., freezing, canning, drying), cooling, trans-
portation, storage, and/or handling at destination (whole-
sale and retail marketing). In all of these steps, proper pro-
cedures for providing the optimum ranges of temperature
and RH are essential for maintaining produce quality and
safety and for minimizing postharvest losses between pro-
duction and consumption sites. Energy requirements for the
various handling steps vary by commodity and its intended
use, but in all cases, there are opportunities for improving
efficiency and reducing the amount of energy used.
Modified and controlled atmospheres treatment with 1-
methylcy-clopropene, exclusion and scrubbing of ethylene
from transport and storage environments, treatment with
postharvest fungicides, and other technologies can be use-
ful supplements to proper temperature and humidity man-
agement for extending the postharvest life of horticultural
perishables. More research is needed to estimate the return
on investment in each of these technologies.
There is a continuing need to develop insect control pro-
cedures that are effective against the insects of concern and
cause no damage to the host commodity to facilitate inter-
national distribution of fresh subtropical and tropical fruits.
Effective implementation of food safety assurance proce-
dures, such as good agricultural practices (GAP) and hazard