Book Description

There are two primary reasons for offering a broad overview of postharvest physiology. First, many critical functions that are operative during plant growth shift after harvest when the input of energy, water, and other essential requisites ceases in most products. Consequently, postharvest physiology differs substantially from what is covered in a typical plant physiology text. Second, the value of the majority of live agricultural plant products approxi mately doubles between harvest and retail sales. The total cost of losses occurring late in the production-harvest-marketing sequence are substan tially greater than those incurred during the production phase. Likewise, inputs essential to prevent or minimize these losses are often only a minute fraction of the overall costs for the product. Therefore, a better understand ing of the functional processes after harvest makes both biological and eco nomic sense. This book focuses on the functional processes controlling physical and chemical changes in live plants and plant products after harvest. The objec tive is to provide a concise overview of the theoretical principles and processes governing these changes. Examples include agronomic crops, fruits, nuts, vegetables, flowers, woody ornamentals, seeds, and other forms of plant propagules and turf grasses, with individual examples ranging from intact plants to pollen. Emphasis is placed on the basic postharvest physio logical principles rather than on detailing optimum storage and handling conditions for individual crops. The latter information can be found in several excellent reference books cited in the text.