Factors affecting postharvest quality during storage of agricultural produce: a comprehensive review
Food Preservation
Every basket of tomatoes, bundle of herbs, or head of lettuce you grow has a postharvest clock ticking the moment it's picked — knowing what controls that clock (temperature, ethylene, humidity) can double how long your harvest stays good.
After you harvest a fruit or vegetable, it's still alive and burning through its own energy reserves, releasing gases, and slowly falling apart. Tiny microbes, the wrong temperature, or even a single bruise can speed that process up dramatically. This review maps out all the forces at work — from how the plant breathes after picking to how packaging traps beneficial gases — so growers and storage managers can keep produce fresh longer and waste less.
Key Findings
Temperature management is the single most influential factor in postharvest quality, with even small deviations accelerating respiration rates, microbial growth, and tissue breakdown.
Ethylene gas — a natural plant hormone released by ripening produce — triggers accelerated senescence in nearby crops, making separation and ethylene scrubbing critical in mixed storage.
Preharvest conditions (soil nutrition, irrigation, maturity at harvest) significantly determine how long produce can be stored, meaning quality preservation begins in the field, not the warehouse.
chevron_right Technical Summary
This review identifies the key reasons why fresh fruits, vegetables, and other crops deteriorate after harvest — from temperature and humidity to ethylene gas and microbial growth — and synthesizes strategies to slow that decline, extend shelf life, and preserve nutrition.
Abstract Preview
Postharvest deterioration of agricultural produce represents a critical constraint to global food security, economic sustainability, and nutritional availability. Quality degradation during storage...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Postharvest management encompasses the techniques used to handle, store, and preserve plant products after they are harvested, including controlling temperature, humidity, and gas exposure to slow senescence and decay. This field matters for plant science because it relies on understanding plant
arrow_forward Explore topic