Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
directly related to the development of other quality at-
tributes of the fruit, such as sweetness, flavor, firmness,
juiciness, and other texture attributes, which are also im-
portant to achieve the desired characteristics for the final
processed product.
important parts of GAPs since it allows identifying the ori-
gin as well as pre- and postharvest handling practices of the
fruits during storage and at the time of processing or retail
marketing.
HARVESTING INDICES
Fruit attributes at harvest have a great impact on storage
life, processing yields, as well as process product quality
and acceptability in the fresh farm. As the fruit is separated
from the plant, water and nutrient supplies are cut, however,
metabolic reactions continue to occur even after the harvest.
Harvesting indices are indicators used to define whether
a fruit is ready to be picked, and they vary among fruits and
regions. Some of them are easy to understand and measure
directly, while others require personal experience, training,
and observation abilities of the picker to identify changes
in colors, surface texture, or brightness.
Some fruits reach their maximum expression of quality
attributes for consumption when they ripen on the plant.
However, this is not always the case because the best fruit
characteristics largely depend on its final use (fresh market
or processing), distance to markets, produce sensitivity to
handling, expected storage life, and consumer preferences.
In fact, many fruits are eaten in several stages of develop-
ment, like mangoes, plantains, purple mombin, and others.
Harvesting indices should guarantee the best possible
quality for the final use but at the same time, they should al-
low product handling, processing, transportation, and com-
mercialization with minimum losses in the quality and
quantity of the product (Kader, 1996; Gonzalez and Lobo,
2005). In general, several criteria are used simultaneously
as harvesting indices for each fruit; some of them use sub-
jective observations, while others use objective measure-
ments.
Subjective harvesting criteria include perception of the
fruit using the human senses: sight (color, size, shape, and
fruit appearance), touch (texture changes), hearing (sound
when cutting, handling, and hitting the fruit), smell (odors),
and taste (sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and flavor). The
experience of the fruit pickers and quality evaluators of
the fruit is very valuable, as many of them are capable
of integrating a series of criteria and accurately discrimi-
nate among fruits ready to harvest after a relatively short
time of training. However, learning processes and individ-
ual strengths can lead to nonuniform fruit selection criteria,
requiring continuous training and supervision (Kays, 1999).
Conversely, objective criteria to determine optimum har-
vesting time do not depend on the harvester or quality
evaluator, but on fruit characteristics or properties which
are recorded or measured. Among the main objective
Challenges of the tropical and subtropical
fruit industry
The quality of tropical and subtropical fruits is affected by
the plant climate conditions in the fields, genetic materials,
cultural practices, labor, and market. Even though tropical
climate allows the production of fruits all year round, it also
limits fruit quality and shelf life.
In general, fruits grown in dry areas with water irriga-
tion meet the ideal conditions for high-quality products
(Salunkhe and Kadam, 1995); however, the climate con-
ditions in the tropics usually are not so easy to predict or
control.
While climate variations around the year in temperate ar-
eas allow a natural reduction of pathogen and insect popu-
lation due to extreme temperature conditions, in the tropics,
such changes are much less noticeable throughout the year,
but heavy rains, high-humidity environments, and other
weather conditions can also largely affect fruit composi-
tion, flavor, and texture attributes as well as their sensitivity
to fruit decay and mechanical injuries during postharvest
handling, which results in quality variations along the year.
Furthermore, there are limitations in the state-of-the-art
technology for tropical fruits, with limited availability of
new resistant cultivars (to diseases and pests), enhanced
yield and quality attribute materials, cultivar practices, and
infrastructure.
Such restraints can affect the ripening patterns of the
fruit, fresh produce storage potential, processing yields, and
final product characteristics. Therefore, proper adjustments
for product handling and processing operations have to be
taken into consideration.
PREHARVEST FACTORS AFFECTING
FRUIT QUALITY
Agricultural practices, soil, fertilizers, climate, cultivars,
water supply, harvesting indices and conditions, and other
preharvest factors affect the quality of fruits. Good agri-
cultural practices (GAPs) have an important impact on the
food safety of fresh fruits and might also influence the final
quality of processed foods. They are implemented to reduce
health risks on the agricultural produce, such as hygienic
practices in the field, postharvest handling, worker hygiene
as well as sanitary procedures for tools, equipment, pack-
ages, and transportation vehicles. Traceability is one of the
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