Postharvest Management of Fresh Produce

Reduction in postharvest losses has remained a major key challenge among agri-food professionals to meet the consumption and demand of fresh produce. Fruits and vegetables, being classified as highly perishable commodities, are prone to postharvest losses through heat/drought, mechanical damage during harvesting and handling, improper sanitation, and intriguing environmental factors. In low-income regions, the contribution of high food losses is manifested mainly at production, postharvest handling and storage stages whereas, retail and consumer level are the major stages in developed countries for a similar extent of food losses. Postharvest Management of Fresh Produce: Recent Advances critically addresses the latest issues, challenges and technological advancements in postharvest management of fresh commodities, especially fruits, nuts and vegetables. It covers the intriguing correlation of preharvest treatments, maturity indices and postharvest operations that significantly affect the postharvest quality of fresh produce. Further topics include packaging, logistics and storage technologies, role of microbial communities, and ‘omics’ strategies in postharvest disease management. Special attention is given to the latest trends of nanotechnology, internet of things (IoTs) and blockchain technologies in food supply chain management of perishable products. The book is a great resource that enables young and experienced professionals working in both, academia and industry, along with UG/PG students to explore a diversified range of topics in postharvest strategies relevant in food processing, food technologies, agro-processing, and quality control. Thoroughly explores the major preharvest losses due to non-availabilities of latest technologies Describes the latest trends in supply chain to minimize preharvest losses Provides overview on the smart technologies like nanotechnology, IoTs and blockchain technology