Recent techniques for the management of postharvest losses and quality preservation of fruits and vegetables: A review

Abstract

With increasing population and year-round demand for fruits and vegetables, postharvest activities have gained much attention. Due to their high perishability, there is an emerging consensus on the necessary roles of postharvest management systems to meet certain goals such as food security and poverty alleviation and also help attain sustainability in agriculture, especially in developing countries. Thus, reduction in postharvest losses has become a major global challenge for ensuring food security for growing population. This review discusses some recent advances in the field of postharvest technology for the maintenance of food quality as well as to increase the postharvest life of fruits and vegetables. It provides an insight in various methods of quality preservation like foam mat drying, osmotic dehydration, freeze drying, microwave drying and spray drying and enhancement of shelf-life through irradiation, low temperature treatment, modified atmosphere packaging and application of edible coatings.