Maintaining the Postharvest Quality of Organic Horticultural Crops

Abstract

Not only cultural treatments in orchard but also postharvest handling affect the taste, shelf life and nutritional quality of organic fruits and vegetables. Organic crops are mostly harvested at ripe stage or close to ripen, thus, their shelf life is shorter and they are more perishable. Postharvest physiology and requests of crops should be considered during postharvest handling in order to maintain their high quality and prevent postharvest losses. The main aim in postharvest concept is to slow down the metabolism of fresh crops continue to live after harvest. The most important factor is temperature. The fruits and vegetables should be protected from high temperatures and cooled immediately after harvest. The cold chain should be kept until consumer. In addition, diseases can be prevented by controlling environment. Sanitation is another rule to consider. All these rules are important for all growers; however they are of special importance for organic horticulture which allows limited postharvest technologies. In this review, the allowed postharvest treatments of certificated organic fruits and vegetables are given. Preharvest factors, harvest, postharvest factors, cooling methods, cold storage, sanitation methods and products, ethylene and its control, and other specific postharvest subjects are discussed.