Post Harvest Management of Horticultural Crops

Disorders of vegetable crops - part 2

Disorders of vegetable crops

Cauliflower	Freezing Injury	Freezing injury will be initiated at -1°C. Symptoms of freezing injury include a water soaked and greyish curd and wilted crown of leaves. The curds finally become brown and gelatinous in appearance.
	Physical Injury	Due to improper practices of harvesting the curds get bruised leading to rapid browning and decay.
Broccoli	Browning	Boron deficiency. Water soaked areas appear on bud clusters which turn pinkish or rusty brown in advanced stages, leads to rotting.
	Bitterness	Caused by preharvest stress or exposure to ethylene.
	Splitting/Cracking	Split carrots had a larger top in relation to the size of the root than the smooth carrots. Early cultivars tend to split more readily than late cultivars.
	Cavity spot	Appears as a cavity in the cortex. Associated with an increased accumulation of K and decreased accumulation of Ca.
	Freezing injury	Freezing injury is caused at temperatures of -1.2°C. An outer ring of water-soaked tissue is developed in frozen carrots which further blacken.
Radish	Freezing Injury	Freezing injury will be initiated at -1°C. Shoots become water-soaked, wilted, and turn black. Roots appear water-soaked and glassy. Roots become soft quickly on warming and pigmented roots may "bleed" (lose pigment).
Beet root	Internal black spot/brown heart/heart rot	Boron deficiency. Within fleshy roots hard/corky spots are found scattered throughout the roots but more numerous on the light coloured zones or cambium layers.
Turnip	Whip tail	Deficiency of Mo. Young leaves become narrow, cupped, showing chlorotic mottling especially around the margin, develop deep patches which ultimately affect the root growth.
Lettuce	Tip burn	Burning or scorching of lateral margins of inner leaves of mature head.