Commercial regulation of ripening is currently achieved through early harvest, by controlling the postharvest storage atmosphere and genetic selection for slow or late ripening varieties. Although these approaches are often effective, they are not universally applicable and often result in acceptable, but poor quality, products. With increased understanding of the molecular biology underlying r...

The modular design of plants enables individual plant organs to manifest autonomous functions and continue aspects of metabolism, such as respiration, even after separation from the parent plant. Therefore, we hypothesized that harvested vegetables and fruits may retain capacity to perceive and respond to external stimuli. For example, the fitness advantage of plant circadian clock function is ...

Fruits produce a range of volatile compounds that make up their characteristic aromas and contribute to their flavor. Fruit volatile compounds are mainly comprised of esters, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lactones, terpenoids and apocarotenoids. Many factors affect volatile composition, including the genetic makeup, degree of maturity, environmental conditions, postharvest handling and storage....

The variation in the composition of fresh tea leaves with season and shoot maturity, and to the applicability of cold storage (4C and 90% relative humidity [RH]) for the purpose of withering of tea leaves were studied. The results showed that the levels of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and the polyphenolic content changed significantly with plucking season and shoot maturity. No significant...

In this present investigation, an original and detailed empirical data on the transfer of heat in a tomato postharvest storage system was presented. No-load tests were performed for a period of 96 h. The heat distribution at different locations, namely the top, middle and bottom of the system was acquired, at a time interval of 30 min for the test period. The humidity inside the system was take...

The postharvest quality of raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) was evaluated after treatment with several natural volatile compounds and storage at 0, 10 or 20 C. At high storage temperature (20 C), raspberries deteriorated rapidly and none of the natural volatile compounds that were used were effective in extending storage life of the fruit. At low storage temperature (0 C), little difference could ...

The onion is a low perishability product, but in long-term storage, postharvest losses occur due to some phytopathological and sprouting factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of storage in controlled atmospheres (CA) on onion cultivar “Sierra Blanca” for seven months. The onions were subjected to three treatments: 1 % O2 + 1 % CO2 (T1), 3 % O2 + 5 % CO2 (T2), both at 2.5 °C ...