BASIC INFORMATION ON POSTHARVEST HANDLING OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS

1.1 What is postharvest handling?

Postharvest handling refers to all the steps to which fruits, vegetables, cutflowers and other perishable crops are
subjected after harvest prior to sale or use while retaining their fresh state and in most cases without changing their basic
appearance.

1.2 Is postharvest handling the same as food processing?

NO. Although food processing activities are also done after harvest, the commodity undergoes drastic changes
and the cells die when processed. Frozen, dried or canned mangoes are products of food processing. In postharvest
handling, mangoes are subjected to sorting, packing, storage and transport.
Packed ready-to-eat peeled and sectioned fruits or cut-up and packed vegetables for salad have been subjected to
postharvest handling processes, not food processing.

1.3. What is the importance of proper postharvest handling?

Losses can be minimized by proper postharvest handling.

1.4. Reasons for damages and yield losses

Crop production ends with harvesting the crop and all efforts, time and money spent on producing a crop may be
wasted, if harvesting itself and postharvest handling are not done carefully
Losses due to mechanical damages
a. rough and careless picking(can be attributed to cutting with blunt or damaged knife or leaving stalks long
enough to injure other fruits)
b. packing(putting commodities too close causes cracks, splits, punctures bruises and distortions= all these give
entrance to microorganisms provoking rots)
c. loading and unloading( step on, sitting on, throwing, dropping the containers during loading or unloading)

HARVESTING= Where production ends, postharvest handling begins, hence, proper handling starts at harvest.

2.1. When should crops be harvested?

Crops should be harvested at the proper stage of maturity. At this stage, the chemicals responsible for flavor and
aroma of fruit have fully developed, hence, they have better taste and appearance.
There is a maximum accumulation of reserve food which is essential as sources of energy to keep their postharvest
life longer. Also, the protective outer layer of fruits and vegetables called cuticle will be thicker while stomates(breathing
organ) will be lesser. Thicker cuticle means greater resistance to injuries while lesser stomates mean lesser transpiration.
Leafy vegetables and some fruit vegetables like beans, eggplant or ladiesfinger are normally harvested at their immature
stage of development. This is still considered proper stage of maturity. There are commodities that should be harvested
during their fullest size when taste, texture and appearance are at their best.

2.2. How can proper stage of maturity of fruits be determined?

The proper stage of maturity can be determined by change in color like dark green to light green in Citrus, green
to tinge of yellow in papaya, bright green to dull green in avocadoes, or by the change in shape like disappearance of
angles in banana fingers, or fullness of checks of mangoes. Each commodity has its own sign of proper stage of maturity.

2.3. How are injuries in harvested fruits of tall trees minimized?

Harvesting aids should be used. A ladder may be used together with a picking pole with attached hook or knife or
scissors and a bag at the end. Carelessness in harvesting as well as throwing the produce into the container and dropping
or dragging filled containers can lead to various losses due to injuries.

2.4. What are the signs of maturity of fruit vegetables.

Fruit vegetables like beans, okra, and eggplant are harvested when they reach their fullest size but are still tender.
They become fibrous or seedy when over mature.

Others like tomatoes can be picked at the pink or breaker stage of ripeness if the market is near, but for distant
markets they should be harvested green-mature or when cream, pink or yellowish green color starts to show at the
blossom end.

2.5. How can maturity of leaf vegetables be determined?

Leafy vegetables like pechay, mustard or lettuce are harvested when they have developed to the fullest size yet
not so advanced in age that the leaf is though and the flavor is bitter. Cabbage can be harvested when firm or compact.
Immature cabbages have hollow spaces inside the head which make them easily damaged during subsequent handling
operations.
2.6. When can root and bulb crops be harvested?
Onions, garlic, or potatoes can be harvested when their leaves start to bend or dry out. Sweet potatoes are
harvested when they reach marketable size.

Maturity Indices of Some Vegetable Crops

Root, Bulb and Tuber Crops
Raddish and carrot= Large enough and crispy
Potato, garlic and onion= tops beginning to dry out and topple down
Yam bean and ginger =large enough (over mature if tough and fibrous)

Fruit Vegetables
Cowpea, yard long bean, snap bean, sweet pea, and winged bean= well-filled pod that snap readily.
Okra= desirable size and tips are snapping easily
Gourds like cucumber, bitter gourd, chayote= desirable size
Gourds like Honey dew, squash, Melons, Watermelons= changes in fruit color and dull hollow sound when thumped.

Flower vegetables
Cauliflower = curd are compact( over mature if flower cluster elongated and become loose)
Broccoli= Bud cluster compact( over mature if loose)
Squash flower= when it is fully bloom
Banana blossom= if the last fruit emerged are smaller( or if it is intended for bloosom production- desirable size should
reached)

Leafy vegetables
Lettuce, pechay,celery and mustard= big enough, before flowering.
Cabbage = head are compact( over mature if head cracks)

2.7. How are fruits and vegetables harvested?

Fruits and vegetables are harvested carefully to minimize injuries. Some fruits and fruit vegetables are easily
harvested by pulling or twisting as in guava, tomato, or papaya. However, others have peels that easily torn when fruit
stem is pulled as beans, citrus or starapple. It is better to harvest such fruits by using a sharp knife.

2.8. Is it good to harvest leafy vegetables by pulling?

NO. Pulling the whole plants may cause some soil particles to cling to the vegetable. Pulled vegetable needs to be
washed and dried of surface moisture to prevent the growth of rot organisms. It is always better to harvest by cutting the
whole plant at its base.

2.9. Is it all right to harvest anytime of the day?

In most commodities, picking during the coolest part of the day can slow down the rate of deterioration. Fruits
like citrus and mangoes should be harvested late in the morning when it starts to get warm. The oil gland of citrus are full
early in the morning and when fruit is pressed in the process of handling or when it strikes something hard, the oil comes
out easily into the fruit surface causing the browning of the peel. For mangoes, latex flow is high early in the morning
when latex cells is still full. Latex that dries on the mango peel attains the fruit surface.

2.10. What can be done if it becomes necessary to harvest at unfavorable times of the day?
If it is necessary to harvest up to noon, keep the produce in shaded area right after picking. Exposure to the heat of
sun increases the temperature of the produce which can cause heat build-up inside the pack or storage area. This condition
promotes early ripening or deterioration of the produce. For mangoes, place the fruits with their stem end down in a rack
that will allow the latex to drip without touching the fruit peel.

2.11. Is it advisable to harvest when it rains?

NO. Fruits and vegetables harvested during or after rain experience higher disease incidence. Wet fruits and
vegetables favor microbial growth. Soil particles which may adhere to the produce may carry soil-borne rot organisms.

2.12. What can be done, if harvesting cannot be avoided during rainy days?
Air dry immediately and properly prior to packing or storage. If dirty, wash the produce first.
2.13. What is done after picking?
Put the produce carefully into field collection containers. If the containers has rough sides, provide the container
with lining materials like banana leaves, old news paper or clean jute sacks before placing the harvested commodities.
This can help reduce damage by preventing contact of the produce with the rough surface of the container.
2.14. What are the other steps that can be done at the same time during harvesting?
Trimming and sorting can be done during harvesting. This is one way of shorting the postharvest handling chain.
However, it takes more time and the harvester must be experienced in sorting and trimming as these steps are often done
in a collection shed or packinghouse.

THE COMMODITY
3.1. What is post harvest life?
It is the length of time that the commodity remains acceptable to the consumers.

3.2. What are the characteristics of harvested fruits and vegetables that govern their postharvest life.
Harvested fruits and vegetables are living tissues which differ in composition and form. They respond to their
environment and are susceptible to microorganisms.

3.3. Why are fruit and vegetable considered alive?

They use up energy for which they need to breathe oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide through the process of
respiration. Fruits and vegetables also give off water as people do but through the process called transpiration.

3.4. What is the relationship of respiration and transpiration to postharvest life?

Both respiration and transpiration must slowed down to keep the freshness of fruits and vegetables. The energy
from respiration is used to keep the activities within their cells. When the cells die, the fruit or vegetable discolors and is
easily attacked by microorganisms. Loss of water through transpiration causes shriveling of fruits and roots, and wilting of
leafy vegetables. Since fruits and vegetables are very high in water content(some have 95%), a loss of some water will
easily affect their appearance and quality. Minimized water lost, the longer the postharvest life.
Factors that affect water loss:
Relative humidity
Temperature of the product
Air velocity

3.5. How do vegetables differ in form?

AT IOI Principal parts used

3.6. How does the form of the vegetables affect postharvest life?
Leaves and buds wilt, fruits ripen, growing points elongated and modified stems with potential leaf buds sprout.

PROPER POSTHARVEST HANDLING

4.1. How can early deterioration of harvested fruits and vegetables be prevented?
This can be prevented by proper postharvest handling. The proper handling techniques vary with the kind of
produce and conditions under which they are handled.

4.2. What are the different handling steps?

The most common handling steps include harvesting, sorting, packaging, transport and storage. There are a lot of
other steps such as vapor treatment for mangoes to be exported, wound healing for root and bulb crops and wrapping or
sleeving for cut flowers. The more selective the market to which the produce is sent, the more handling steps the
commodity is subjected; in order to maintain the quality of the produce for a longer period of time.

PACKINGHOUSE OPERATIONS= These are preparatory activities prior to storage, transport and marketing to obtain
a more uniform and saleable produce and to insure quality maintenance until retail. The common packinghouse operations
are trimming, sorting, washing and curing.

5.1. What is trimming?

It is the removal of undesirable parts likely to be rejected by consumers and parts which can favor deterioration of
fruits.

5.2. What parts are trimmed?

Protruding stalks of fruits leaves of onions up to 5-8 cm and damaged parts. The wrapper leaves of cabbages
except for 3-4 leaves and all leaves of carrots, radish, and citrus fruits or of yambean should also be removed.

Why?
Protruding stalks can damage or puncture the neighboring fruits in a pack. Extra leaves draw water from the
commodity. Damaged parts become sources of microorganisms that will infect the good quality commodities.
Also trimming reduces cost of the commodity transport i.e. minimizing the space occupied by these undesirable
parts in a pack which can be utilized for other purposes.
5.3. What is sorting?
It is the separation of poor quality produce from the good quality ones while those unfit for human consumption
are thrown away. The produce may also be grouped into different size groups like big, medium and small.

5.4. Is sorting different from grading?

Grading is following a certain criteria set by a government institution or agreed upon by those dealing with fruits
and vegetables; while sorting is following ones own criteria.

5.5. Why is sorting necessary?

Sorting determines the quality and dictates the quantity and price for the commodity. It can also prevent the
untimely or high spoilage or losses of the commodity.

5.6. Is grading widely practiced?

Grading is a regular operation in developed countries but seldom in developing countries. Producers and traders
only sort. In the Philippines, grades of several fruits and vegetables have been put up in the early 70’s but not
implemented. (This is with the exception of the Food Terminal Incorporated).

5.7. How should sorting be done properly?

Separate good quality produce in containers and storage rooms from poor quality ones. Different-sized
commodities should be placed in separate containers. Small commodities respire more per unit weight than large ones.
Separate unripe from ripe fruits. Ripe fruits produce more ethylene causing premature ripening of unripe ones.

5.8. What are the characteristics of good quality produce?

This depends on the type of produce. Basically, uniform fruits and vegetables free from injuries, rots and
noticeable insect bites are considered of good quality. Fruits and rootcrops should be well-shaped. The produce should be
kept clean.

5.9. How should commodities be cleaned?

Commodities can be washed or manually wiped or brushed. Those for export need to be very clean so they are
usually washed.

5.10. Can the quality of wash water be improved?

Ordinary bleach solution used by housewives for bleaching clothes can be added to the wash water at the rate of
four teaspoon per kerosene can (5 gal) of water. The bleach solution contains chlorine which can kill microorganisms on
the surface of the commodity.

5.11. What is the next step after trimming and sorting?

This depends on the commodity, the market and the situation. Commodities intended to be sold immediately to
the local market can already be packaged and transported. Bulbs and root crops intended to be sold 4-5 months later have
to be cured, packaged and sorted or can be treated with chemicals to inhibit sprouting. Commodities for export undergo
more steps like fumigation and hot water treatment or chemical treatment.

5.12. What is curing?

Curing is the formation of new skin in injured roots crops and closing the neck of newly harvested onions and
garlic.

5.13. What happens during curing?

Root crops form a new skin after injury, while the neck or the narrow portion of the top of the bulbs closes
provided the conditions are right.

5.14. Why is curing important?

If new skin is formed or the neck of bulb crops is healed, the commodity will have adequate protection from
microorganisms and too much transpiration can be minimized.

5.15. What are the conditions favorable for curing?

For root crops high temperature and high humidity, while for bulb crops, high temperature and low relative
humidity.

5.16. Is attaining a high temperature a problem?

It is in the highlands but not in the lowlands.

5.17. How can high temperature be attained?

Put the commodity in the hottest part of the house or storage room. Cover with jute sacks. Where money is not a
problem, heaters can be used.
5.18. Is high humidity a problem?
It is a problem in the lowlands (sea level) especially during the dry months, but not in the highlands.

5.19. How can high humidity be attained?

Cover the commodity with cloth or burlap sacks to trap the transpired moisture which creates a high relative
humidity in the immediate surroundings of the commodity. In cold rooms, a humidifier can be used.

PACKING AND TRANSPORT= Fruits and vegetables are produced in areas which are fragmented in nature, small-
scale in operation and far from outlets. Packaging therefore assists in the efficient handling of the produce and if properly
done, can reduce damage, moisture loss and pilferage of produce and prevent recontamination of the commodity with
spoilage organisms. Transport, on the other hand, is considered as the key element in the postharvest handling chain
because this is where losses often occur. However, causes of losses are not only related to transport problems but also to
inadequacies in other sections of the distribution chain such as during loading and unloading of transport vehicles.

6.1. What containers can be used for transporting commodities?

Containers for fruits and vegetables depend on the commodity or locality or both, as well as on the distance from
production areas to markets. The container should protect commodity from injury, be convenient to carry and
economically feasible. The containers generally used are bamboo baskets or kaing, wooden or plastic crates, mesh bags or
sacks, and fiberboard baskets or cartons. The most common of all the packaging materials is the bamboo basket. Bags are
popularly used for fresh produce that can withstand reasonable compressive loads (weight of commodities above them)
during transport. This is the case of commodities like melons or potatoes. Cartons, on the other hand, are primarily used
for export commodities such as bananas or mangoes.

6.2. Are bamboo baskets advisable to use for transport to distant markets?
NO. Bamboo baskets do not offer adequate strength and protection against produce damage during handling,
stacking and transport.

6.3. Is it advisable to shift to wooden crates or cartons?

For small volumes of commodities, it would be expensive to use wooden crates or cartons for short distance
transport. But the use of wooden crates or cartons is recommended for long distance local transport due to their strength
and rigidity which protects the produce from handling hazards. They are also relatively easy to handle and can be stacked
on top of one another during transport or storage. Cartons are best if the produce is transported by air, since air freight is
lesser than for wooden crates. It is easy to label too.

6.4. What should be the proper size of container?

The container should be convenient to carry. Control the depth of the package to prevent excessive pressure
damage (damage due to the weight of commodities on top).

6.5. How should packages be stacked?

The packages should be stacked to a height that there will be no damages at the bottom container. This is
particularly applicable when packages are not strong enough to withstand the pressure exerted by other packages on top.
A typical example is the bamboo baskets used for cabbages.

6.6. If the container cannot protect the commodity adequately, what other means can be done to minimize damage?
Container liners for additional protection of produce from mechanical injuries can be used. For bamboo baskets,
banana leaves or newspaper will do. Brown paper or burlap can also be used. Some fruit vegetables like the gourds
(upo, patola), papaya or chayote or leafy vegetables like cabbages, can be wrapped individually with newspaper before
putting them in the unlined container. For export, polyethylene film and Styrofoam expandable cups or shredded paper are
used usually for fruits in carton.

STORAGE= Most fruits and vegetables are very perishable. Proper storage is thus essential to maintain their quality and
prolong their usefulness for a longer period of time. This however depends on the commodity. For example, mangoes can
be stored only for one month while onions can be stored for as long as eight months.

7.1. What are the proper storage conditions?

Each commodity has its own requirements for optimum temperature and relative humidity. Most tropical fruits
and vegetables store best at 12°C. At lower temperature they exhibit abnormalities called chilling injury, and deteriorate
fast at higher temperature due to rapid respiration and high transpiration. Subtropical crops like cabbage and carrots are
best kept at 0°C. Almost all fruits and vegetables except the root and bulb crops keep best at high (90-95%) relative
humidity (RH). They lose moisture fast at lower RH and rot easily at higher RH. Root and bulb crops sprout at high RH so
they keep best at low temperature and low RH.
7.2. If cold storage facilities are not available what temporary measures can be adopted?
If cold storage facilities are not available, which is true in or near production areas and rural markets, the non
refrigerated storage methods which are commonly based on evaporative cooling and ventilated cooling offer good
alternatives. They are effective for short-term periods and for small amounts of produce.

7.3. What is evaporative cooling?

Evaporative cooling is based on the principle that when a source of water is near the commodity, the heat given
off by the commodity during respiration is used in evaporating the water causing a decrease in temperature and an
increase in relative humidity.

7.4. What are examples of methods using the principle of evaporative cooling?
Evaporative cooling techniques include sprinkling with water, wrapping with fresh leaves, storage in moist
sawdust, storage in moistened clay jars, covering produce with moist cloth or storage in drip coolers.

7.5. What is a drip cooler?

A drip cooler is a structure where water is allowed to drip along its walls for evaporation.

7.6. What is the advantage of a drip cooler?

The temperature inside a drip cooler can be about 2-3°C lower and the relative humidity 20% higher than at
normal room conditions.

7.7. For what commodities can this be used?

It can be used for all commodities with high relative humidity requirement although tests have been conducted
successfully so far on pechay, lettuce, okra, and green-mature tomatoes.

7.8. What is ventilated cooling?

Ventilated cooling involves the use of ventilation to remove the heat evolved during respiration. Cooler air moves
at the bottom of a room and rises as it is warmed. The bigger the volume of commodity, the greater is the heat evolved.

7.9. What are the various methods of ventilated cooling?

One method of ventilated cooling is the storage using cold night air. Other methods include hanging commodities
as in onion and garlic, and by storing in piled layers of straw or grasses which is also known as clamp storage. Such
clamps should have air passages, too.

7.10. Should stored commodities be inspected periodically?

YES. Periodic inspection of stored commodities must be done so that decayed or rotten produce are discarded.
This can avert possible disease spread. In certain cases, fruits which are all unripe at the start of storage can ripen at
different periods of storage. Those fruits which ripen earlier should be separated because the high level of ethylene
produced promotes ripening of other fruits.

7.11. Are there other postharvest practices that are done in developed countries but seldom or not yet widely practiced in
developing countries?
YES. Below are seldom used practices:

 Irradiation
 Waxing (application of a thin layer of waxy material)
 Precooling (rapid cooling before refrigerated transport or storage)
 Application of sprout inhibitors to root and bulb crops
 Controlled atmosphere storage or transport (storage in air tight rooms or transport in vans with low oxygen
and high carbon dioxide).
 Hypobaric storage (storage at low pressures)
 Degreening (changing the color of citrus from green to orange or yellow)
 Accelerating the ripening with ethylene gas
 Fumigation (exposing commodities to a gas to kill insects)
 Disease control

7.12. Are some of these practices used by big companies?

Some do, mostly for exported commodities. Bananas are treated with fungicides or ripened with ethylene gas.
Pummelos are waxed and degreened. Mangoes are dipped in hot water (52-55°C for 10 minutes) for the control of
anthracnose and vapor-heat treated for the control of fruit fly. Onions are sprayed with maleic hydrazide 2 weeks before
harvest to minimize sprouting during storage.
7.13. Why are these practices not adapted?
It is mainly due to high cost of facilities and electricity to run the facilities. Where there is sufficient capital to
finance the facilities, the ability of the consumer to pay for such added cost which is depicted as higher price of
commodities must also be considered.

7.14. Are there cheaper alternatives to these practices utilizing the same principle underlying them?
Some modify the storage atmosphere using plastic or polyethylene film as an alternative to controlled atmosphere
(CA) storage or transport. This is called modified atmosphere storage. Ripening with calcium carbide, ethrel, leaves of
‘kakawati’ (Gliricidia sepium Steud.) or ripening fruit can take the place of ripening with ethylene gas. Alum or lime can
control, to a certain extent, bacterial soft rot of cabbage. Ripening can be slowed down using and ethylene scrubber, now
available at PHTRC of UP Los Baños.

Proper postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables is primarily directed to reduce wastage of production. Its
ultimate objectives are to augment financial returns from these perishable crops and to sustain an adequate supply of the
commodities for the ever growing population. Such goal requires however a detailed and systematic approach. It is against
this backdrop that this paper was formulated.

7.13. Why are these practices not adapted?

It is mainly due to high cost of facilities and electricity to run the facilities. Where there is sufficient capital to
finance the facilities, the ability of the consumer to pay for such added cost which is depicted as higher price of
commodities must also be considered.

7.14. Are there cheaper alternatives to these practices utilizing the same principle underlying them?
Some modify the storage atmosphere using plastic or polyethylene film as an alternative to controlled atmosphere
(CA) storage or transport. This is called modified atmosphere storage. Ripening with calcium carbide, ethrel, leaves of
‘kakawati’ (Gliricidia sepium Steud.) or ripening fruit can take the place of ripening with ethylene gas. Alum or lime can
control, to a certain extent, bacterial soft rot of cabbage. Ripening can be slowed down using and ethylene scrubber, now
available at PHTRC of UP Los Baños.

Proper postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables is primarily directed to reduce wastage of production. Its
ultimate objectives are to augment financial returns from these perishable crops and to sustain an adequate supply of the
commodities for the ever growing population. Such goal requires however a detailed and systematic approach. It is against
this backdrop that this paper was formulated.

7.13. Why are these practices not adapted?

It is mainly due to high cost of facilities and electricity to run the facilities. Where there is sufficient capital to
finance the facilities, the ability of the consumer to pay for such added cost which is depicted as higher price of
commodities must also be considered.

7.14. Are there cheaper alternatives to these practices utilizing the same principle underlying them?
Some modify the storage atmosphere using plastic or polyethylene film as an alternative to controlled atmosphere
(CA) storage or transport. This is called modified atmosphere storage. Ripening with calcium carbide, ethrel, leaves of
‘kakawati’ (Gliricidia sepium Steud.) or ripening fruit can take the place of ripening with ethylene gas. Alum or lime can
control, to a certain extent, bacterial soft rot of cabbage. Ripening can be slowed down using and ethylene scrubber, now
available at PHTRC of UP Los Baños.

Proper postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables is primarily directed to reduce wastage of production. Its
ultimate objectives are to augment financial returns from these perishable crops and to sustain an adequate supply of the
commodities for the ever growing population. Such goal requires however a detailed and systematic approach. It is against
this backdrop that this paper was formulated.