This book focuses on quality of produce by addressing its various aspects. By applying a disciplinary perspective, we work toward an integrated view, placing papers in the broader context of the processes that are responsible for the supply of fresh produce. While a number of technical papers focus on factors affecting quality, policy issues are also discussed. Several papers link the market performance with the ability of the existing institutional structures to provide incentives to supply the optimal quality produce. The topics covered in this contributed volume address quality issues ranging from cultural practices to postharvest handling, retailing, and home consumption. Perspectives of horticulturists, agronomists, food scientists, engineers, and economists should be looked upon as a system applied to solve practical problems faced by scientists, the produce industry, and policy makers. The immediate benefit of this book is improved understanding of specific quality issues and marketing problems, while suggesting the need for a multidisciplinary approach for optimal solutions. This book is of interest to horticulturists, agronomists, food scientists, engineers, and economists, as well as the produce industry, and policy makers in food quality and safety.

Improved quality requires integration across business functions and scientific disciplines. Based on this premise, Fruit and Vegetable Quality: An Integrated View presents 15 unique perspectives on achieving greater quality and guidance for a more integrated approach to postharvest handling and fruit and vegetable research. Designed for anyo

Improved quality requires integration across business functions and scientific disciplines. Based on this premise, Fruit and Vegetable Quality: An Integrated View presents 15 unique perspectives on achieving greater quality and guidance for a more integrated approach to postharvest handling and fruit and vegetable research. Designed for anyone involved in the management, production, handling, distribution, or processing of fruits and vegetables, it provides concise descriptions of important issues, roadmaps to the literature in specific fields, assessments of current knowledge and research needs, and specific examples of product-based research. Your guide to the dynamic developments in integrating fruit and vegetable quality projects, Fruit and Vegetable Quality: An Integrated View also presents a range of options for achieving better coordination of research across scientific disciplines.

The processing of food is no longer simple or straightforward, but is now a highly inter-disciplinary science. A number of new techniques have developed to extend shelf-life, minimize risk, protect the environment, and improve functional, sensory, and nutritional properties. Since 1999 when the first edition of this book was published, it has facilitated readers’ understanding of the methods, technology, and science involved in the manipulation of conventional and newer sophisticated food preservation methods. The Third Edition of the Handbook of Food Preservation provides a basic background in postharvest technology for foods of plant and animal origin, presenting preservation technology of minimally processed foods and hurdle technology or combined methods of preservation. Each chapter compiles the mode of food preservation, basic terminologies, and sequential steps of treatments, including types of equipment required. In addition, chapters present how preservation method affects the products, reaction kinetics and selected prediction models related to food stability, what conditions need be applied for best quality and safety, and applications of these preservation methods in different food products. This book emphasizes practical, cost-effective, and safe strategies for implementing preservation techniques for wide varieties of food products. Features: Includes extensive overview on the postharvest handling and treatments for foods of plants and animal origin Describes comprehensive preservation methods using chemicals and microbes, such as fermentation, antimicrobials, antioxidants, pH-lowering, and nitrite Explains comprehensive preservation by controlling of water, structure and atmosphere, such as water activity, glass transition, state diagram, drying, smoking, edible coating, encapsulation and controlled release Describes preservation methods using conventional heat and other forms of energy, such as microwave, ultrasound, ohmic heating, light, irradiation, pulsed electric field, high pressure, and magnetic field Revised, updated, and expanded with 18 new chapters, the Handbook of Food Preservation, Third Edition, remains the definitive resource on food preservation and is useful for practicing industrial and academic food scientists, technologists, and engineers.

Food quality is becoming an ever-increasing important feature for consumers and it is well known that some food crops are perishable and have a very short shelf and storage life. An effective quality assurance system throughout the handling steps between harvest and retail display is essential to provide a consistently good quality supply of fresh food crops to the consumers and to protect the reputation of a given marketing label. Food manufacturing companies all over the world are incre- ingly focussing on quality aspect of food including minimally processed food to meet consumer demands for fresh-like and healthy food products. To investigate and control quality, one must be able to measure quality-related attributes. Quality of produce encompasses sensory attributes, nutritive values, chemical constituents, mechanical properties, functional properties and defects. Successful postharvest handling of crops requires careful coordination and integration of the various steps from harvest operations to consumer level in order to maintain the initial product quality. Maturity at harvest is one feature of quality of perishable products, it has great influence on their postharvest behavior during marketing. Safety assurance can be part of quality assurance and its focus on minimizing chemical and microbial contamination during production, harvesting, and postharvest handling of intact and fresh-cut of commodities. Essentially, electromagnetic (often optical) prop- ties relate to appearance, mechanical properties to texture, and chemical properties to flavor (taste and aroma).

The effects of time and temperature on the postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables are visually depicted in the Color Atlas of Postharvest Quality of Fruits and Vegetables. Through hundreds of vibrant color photographs, this unique resource illustrates how the appearance (e.g., color, shape, defects and injuries) of fruits and vegetables changes throughout their postharvest life and how storage temperature greatly contributes to critical quality changes. The book’s extensive coverage describes 37 different fruits and vegetables from different groups that were stored at five specific temperatures and photographed daily after specified elapsed periods of time. Individual fruits and vegetables from the following groups are covered: subtropical and tropical fruits pome and stone fruits soft fruits and berries cucurbitaceae solanaceous and other fruit vegetables legumes and brassicas stem, leaf and other vegetable and alliums Information is provided about each individual fruit/vegetable such as characteristics, quality criteria and composition; recommendations for storage, transport and retail; and effects of temperature on the visual and compositional quality of each individual fruit or vegetable, associated with photos of the appearance at particular times and temperatures. This visual documentation shows how important is to handle fruits and vegetables at the right temperature and what happens if the recommendations are not followed. Also shown is the importance of the initial harvest quality of the fruit/vegetable and the expected shelf life as a function of quality at harvest, storage temperature and storage time. The Color Atlas of Postharvest Quality of Fruits and Vegetables will appeal to a diverse group of food industry professionals in the areas of processing, distribution, retail, quality control, packaging, temperature control (refrigerated facilities or equipment) and marketing as a reference tool and to establish marketing priority criteria. Academic and scientific professionals in the area of postharvest physiology and technology, food science and nutrition can also use the book as a reference either for their study or in class to help students to visualize changes in the appearance of fruit/vegetables as a function of time/temperature.

The preservation of freshness of fruits and vegetables until their consumption is the aim of many research activities. The quality losses of fresh fruit and vegetables during cold chain are frequently attributable to an inappropriate use of postharvest technologies. Moreover, especially when fresh produce is transported to distant markets, it is necessary to adopt proper storage solutions in order to preserve the initial quality. Nowadays, for each step of the supply chain (packing house, cold storage rooms, precooling center, refrigerate transport, and distribution), innovative preservation technologies are available that, alone or in combination, could preserve the fresh products in order to maintain the principal quality and nutritional characteristics. In this Special Issue, these preservation technologies will be described, highlighting their effect on quality maintenance.