Post Harvest Management of Horticultural Crops

Introduction

Many post harvest treatments are applied to horticultural crops, either to maintain the quality (taste, colour, flavour, texture) or improve the visual appeal. Most important of these treatments are temperature management including the cold chain where the temperature of the crop is reduced rapidly and stabilize temperature after harvesting. Exposing the crop to high or low temperature and application of chemicals after harvest helps in managing/prevent pest and diseases and sprouting occurrence respectively.
Harvested produce must be handled with care at every stage to avoid the mechanical damage and subsequent fungal/bacterial infection. Adopting appropriate post harvest handling operation will minimize the all ill effects of post harvest.