Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Photo 15.5. Traceability provides knowledge of the history of a product throughout the food chain,
beginning at the greenhouse where it has been produced.
has notable complications of postharvest
manipulation and logistics, which involves
a high cost and affects the price to the con-
sumer, who will have to pay more for a
traced product. In some countries, where
the consumer has great trust in its adminis-
tration (official agencies) to take care of food
safety, the need for the extra cost of trace-
ability is questioned, for many products.
The new European regulation on food
safety (Regulation 178/2002) that imposed
that traceability of food should be ensured,
became compulsory from 2005.
Nowadays, the importance of freshly
cut horticultural products, a concept that
involves fresh fruits and vegetables, cleaned,
cut and packed, that maintain their natural
properties and are ready to be consumed,
has increased dramatically (Belloso, 2003).
The term 'IV range products' is used in
France and Spain, whereas in English-
speaking countries they are known as 'fresh
cut products', among other commercial
terms.
In fresh cut products, in order to main-
tain the quality of fruit and vegetables that
have been just freshly cut and packaged
in modified atmosphere, it is essential to
maintain a low temperature that decreases
the enzymatic degradation of the product
and limits the multiplication of microor-
ganisms, with the exception of those that
can grow and multiply at low tempera-
tures such as Listeria (Gorny and Zagory,
2003). Therefore, prevention and imple-
mentation of good practice programmes are
essential to maintain proper quality and to
provide healthiness and food safety to the
consumer.
15.8
Postharvest Pathologies
Several factors affect the postharvest pathol-
ogy during cultivation, as they affect the
crop condition, especially fertilization and
the soil characteristics. High contents of
nitrogen shorten the shelf life of the prod-
uct. Calcium has a great relevance as well,
due to its influence as a constituent of cell
walls (Sholberg and Conway, 2003). The
ripening stage at harvest also has an effect,
as well as the handling and storage
characteristics.
It is essential to maintain high sanitary
conditions during the whole process of
 
 
 
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