OVERVIEW OF

POSTHARVEST
HANDLING
SCIENCE
 Postharvest Physiology
- Study of principles governing the biological
processes that occur in harvested crops

 Morpho- anatomy
-covers the specific a parts of the crop in which
the processes occur and the changes of these
parts after harvest
SCIENCE
Postharvest Engineering &
Physical Chemistry
- Study of changes in the physical
characteristics of the commodity
TECHNOLOGY
 Covers the series of procedures,
operations, steps or movements
that crops are made to undergo in order
to control changes in the harvested
crops, including the technological
aspects of marketing and
distribution.
POSTHARVEST
HORTICULTURE
 WHAT IS THE
INTERRELATIONSHIP OF
SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY IN
POSTHARVEST
HANDLING?
 EXAMPLE: HARVESTING AND
TRANSPORTING OF UNRIPE BANANAS
CAN WE INCREASE OR
UPGRADE THE QUALITY
OF THE CROPS BY
PROPER POSTHARVEST
HANDLING?
TERMINOLOGIES
 Postproduction

→general term for handling of crops from

harvest up to the time they reach the final
consumer

 Primary processing
→ make more suitable for consumers,
manufacturers and processors
→ can still be changed

→ original plant part can still be recognized

TERMINOLOGIES

 Secondary processing
→ involve conversion of harvested crops into
stable products that can no longer be changed
into other forms
 Minimal processing
→ Postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables
that have been peeled, sliced, cut and
packaged in a form that is ready to cook or to
eat uncooked.
→ fresh cuts
FOOD PROCESSING
 Freezing
 Drying
 Blanching
 Canning
INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING
 Manufacture of chocolate powder,
powders, instant coffee powder
 PRODUCTION OF MEDICINAL
PRODUCTS FROM PLANTS

 Manufactureof antibiotics, other

pharmaceutical products as well as
commercial herbal preparations
PRODUCTION OF DRIED PLANT ARTS
 Production of art forms from dried plant
parts such as floral arrangements,
pictures, bookmarks etc.
 POSTHARVEST
HANDLING VS. FOOD
PROCESSING
 POSTHARVEST HANDLING
 Aims
→maintains the fresh state of
commodities and safety delivered on
time to the consumers
 Biological State
→cells actively respiring
 Operations
→steps done after harvest , preparation
for marketing, consumption or food
processing
 FOOD PROCESSING
 Aims
→transform into a stable preserved
product no longer convertible to other
form
 Biological State
→no longer respiring, non- living
 Operations
→done after postharvest handling
PRIMARY PROCESSING SECONDARY PROCESSING
(POSTHARVEST HANDLING) (FOOD PROCESSING)
 POSTHARVEST HANDLING
PERISHABLE VS. DURABLE
Parameters Durable Crops Perishable Crops

No. of crops < 5 major ones >10 fruits

20 vegetables
9 cut flowers
5 cut foliage
3 perishable staples
MC maintained 14% 75 – 95%
Shelf life 1 year < 1 week
root & bulb crops:
several weeks or
months
 POSTHARVEST HANDLING
PERISHABLE VS. DURABLE
Parameters Durable Crops Perishable Crops
Technologies Threshing, drying, Trimming, cleaning, curing,
involved after fumigation, controlled waxing, grading, control of
harvest atmosphere storage, ripening, degreening,
grading ethylene treatment,
precooling, refrigerated
storage and transport, hot
water treatment, vapor
heat treatment, controlled
and modified storage
Markets Mainly local Domestic and export
markets, processing plants,
food service establishments
 NEED FOR POSTHARVEST
HANDLING
1.Food Security
→increase food supply
→reducing wastage means increased
supply at retail that is available to
more people
 ADVANTAGES OF LOSS
REDUCTION
1. Relatively cheap
2. Not risky
3. Energy conservation
4. Rapid desired results
2. Increasing urbanization and
industrialization
→migration of people to urban cities
→increasing distance between production
areas and markets makes it more
difficult to maintain the freshness of
produce
3. Huge opportunities and stiff
competition in exporting fresh
produce
→ Implementation of the General Agreement on
Tariff and Trade (GATT) that facilitated in
world trade of produce
Country Time to keep it fresh
China 2 - 3 weeks
Hongkong & Japan 2 weeks
Middle East 3 – 4 weeks
Europe & North America 4 – 6 weeks
4. Growing attention to quality
→ Customersare looking for and are willing to
pay premium price for good quality produce
5. Changing Taste and lifestyles
→ Customers prefer to buy at supermarkets
→ Increased sale of fresh cut fruits and
vegetables
→ Grown demand for fresh flowers
6. Growing concerns for food safety
→ Food safety has become mandatory in the
export market
→ A quality management system is already a
prerequisite in supplying supermarkets in
many developed countries
→ Promotion of non-chemical treatments

→ Exploitation of chemicals considered as

Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS)
7. Heightened health consciousness
→ Consumers are becoming more aware not
only of the nutritive value of the food they eat
but even their disease- preventing properties

→ Ex. Lycopene

→ Preservationof the nutritive value goes hand

in hand with the preservation of the quality
8. Fluctuating supply and prices over
time
→ Storage of products when the current selling
price is cheap
9. Huge losses
→ Storage of products when the current selling
price is cheap
→ http://countrystat.psa.gov.ph/
 POSTHARVEST LOSSES
Quantitative
→availability
→utility
→saleable weight

Qualitative
→acceptability by consumer
(appearance, chemical constituents and nutritive value)
A loss that cannot be translated in economic
terms is not considered a loss.
 IMPORTANCE OF A LOSS DATA- GATHERING
PROGRAM

❖ Firststep of a program on reducing losses

→the magnitude and nature of losses must be
assessed

❖ Findingsof a good loss data gathering

program will be used to develop new
technologies and convince adapters.
METHODS OF OBTAINING LOSS DATA
➢ Assessment →rough approximation of losses
due to lack of information
➢ Estimation → judgment of losses based on
data from studies
➢ Survey → loss data obtained from traders,
cooperatives, associations or financing
agencies; limited in scope
EXTENT OF LOSSES
 See table 1-2 and 1-3
 NATURE OF LOSSES
❖ Mechanical→ loss due to unintentional damage
sustained by the commodity (abrasion, punctures)
 NATURE OF LOSSES
❖ Biological→ loss due to disease organisms and
insects
 NATURE OF LOSSES
❖ Physico- chemical→ loss due to faster rate of
inherent processes in the produce or abnormalities in
such processes (weight loss)
 CAUSES OF LOSSES
➢ Technical → can be controlled by employing
technological strategies
exs. improper handling (unsuitable harvesting tools),
high temperature and disease

➢ Non- technical or extra technical → cannot

be solved by technology
exs. inefficiencies in infrastructure, inappropriate or
inadequate policies and socio- economic factors

See figure 1-3

  Longevity of produce → length of time the
commodity remains marketable or useable for its
intended purpose
Postharvest life Harvest up to the time the produce can still be used for its
intended purpose
Green life Harvest up to the time a fruit losses its green color
Storage life Period from start to end of any method of commercial storage
Vase life Period from the point of sale or start of display of a cutflower
or foliage in a vase to the time that it cannot provide aesthetic
satisfaction
Shelf life Time the commodity (in good condition) is brought to the
market for display or stored up to the time of its use or
consumption
Poststorage life Time that the commodity will last after storage regardless of
usage
 CHARACTERISTICS OF A VIABLE AND
APPROPRIATE POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY

❖ Technically feasible → should be commodity-,

location-, and situation- specific
→ should increase efficiency in terms of reduction in time
and movement of produce from farm to market

❖ Economically viable → the benefit must outweigh

the costs of improvement

❖Socially acceptable → must be suited to the intended

user’s situation (socio-economic, cultural and legal/
political)
→ buyers’ requirements and trade specifications must be
met
 CHARACTERISTICS OF A VIABLE AND
APPROPRIATE POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY

❖ Environment- friendly→ pollution and waste

generated should be minimal
(use of plastics as a packaging material)
THE FRESH PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS
SYSTEM

➢ Production subsystem → participants

transform inputs like seeds and other material
resources into quality produce with the use of labor,
technology, information and money

✓ Small farmers
✓ Farmers’ cooperatives / associations

✓ Corporate farms
THE FRESH PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS
SYSTEM

➢ Marketing subsystem → market participants or

so- called intermediaries including village agents,
assemblers, wholesalers, consignees, retailers,
exporters and importers
➢ Function: make the produce available to the
consumers at the right form at the right price, place
and time
➢ Cleaning, sorting, trimming, packing, storage and
transport
THE FRESH PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS
SYSTEM

➢ Consumption subsystem → involves final

receivers of produce from the farmers
✓ Local households – final end- users buying from the
retail markets
✓ Institutional buyers - hotels, restaurants,
supermarkets, hospitals and military bases
✓ Food service sectors – fast food chains, airline
caterers and enterprises
✓ Processors – make bottled, canned or packed dried
fruits and vegetables
✓ Importers – receive the produce in foreign markets
QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)
 the heart of the three subsystems
 transcends production, marketing and
consumption since maintaining the quality of
the produce starts from the farm and continues
until it reaches the market
 ultimate goal to the fresh produce system
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE FRESH
PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS SYSTEM
❖ Climatic factors → inherent conditions in the area like
temperature and rainfall
❖ Physical factors → natural ( e.g. location, terrain,
and the like) or man- made ( infrastructure and
institutions)
Man- made:
✓ Farm-to-market roads and transport facilities
✓ Communication and market information system
✓ Postharvest and market facilities
✓ Other service facilities – credit and financial institutions;
educational, research and extension agencies; government
and non- government support institutions; and industry
associations
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE FRESH
PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS SYSTEM
❖ Technical factors → inherent produce
characteristics in relation to production practices of
the farmers, as well as available research,
development and extension technologies and services
✓ Diversity
✓ Seasonality
✓ Bulkiness
✓ Substitutability and elastic demand
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE FRESH
PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS SYSTEM
❖ Socio- economic considerations →
✓ include supply and demand trends
✓ prices/ costs of specific products vis- a-vis substitutes
and complements
✓ input prices
✓ characteristics of individual participants in the
production , marketing and consumption subsystems
such as incomes, attitudes, values, culture, religion
economic status, education and training and
membership in organizations
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE FRESH
PRODUCE AGRIBUSINESS SYSTEM
❖ Legal/ political factors → policies, laws and
regulations directly or indirectly affecting the flow
from the farm to the specific markets
includes:
✓ Government research and development allocation
funds
✓ Taxes
✓ Input subsidies
✓ Tariff duties
✓ Grades or standards
✓ Requirements imposed on exports and imports of
fresh produce
QUESTIONS?COMMENTS?