Addis Ababa Science and

Technology University College of

Biological and Chemical Engineering
Department of Chemical Engineering

Course : Advanced Topics in Postharvest

Technologies
Course code: CHEG6122
INTRODUCTION
Cont...

• In addition to growing world population

 Shift of lifestyle
The issue of food supply is
 Diet patterns
becoming a major concern
Climate change
• According to the FAO, food production will need to grow by 70%
to feed world population which will reach 9 billion by 2050
• The solution to combating world hunger involves more than just
producing more food, but reducing losses through “proper
postharvest technologies”
Crops
Cont...

• Massive quantities of foods are lost due to spoilage

and infestations on the journey to consumers (FAO,
2011)
 According to FAO (2014), post-harvest losses in
developing countries can range from 15 to 50%
Losses at Different Stages in Food Supply Chain

• Harvesting, handling at harvesting

Edible crops left in field
Time of harvest not optimal
Crop damaged during harvesting
• Threshing
Loss due to poor technique
Cont...

• Drying, transport and distribution

 Quality and quantity loss during drying; poor transport
infrastructure; loss owning to spoiling/bruising
• Storage
Pests and disease attacks; spillage; contamination; natural
drying out of food
• Processing
Process losses
Cont...

• Packaging
 Inappropriate packaging damages produces; grain spillage
from sacks; attack by pests
• Marketing, selling, distribution
Damage during transport; spoilage; poor handling; losses
caused by poor storage
• End of life disposal of food waste
 Food waste discarded
Causes of Food Losses in Perishable Crops

• There are so many causes for losses in the post-harvest

food supply chain
• Biological
• Microbiological
• Physical Losses in quantity/quality
• Physiological
• etc
Cont.

• Biological
Consumption of food by rodents, birds, monkeys and other
large animals causes direct disappearance of food
 Sometimes the level of contamination of food by the
excreta, hair and feathers of animals and birds is so high that
the food is condemned for human consumption
Cont...

• Microbiological
Micro organisms cause damage to stored foods (e.g.,fungi
and bacteria)
 Micro-organisms usually directly consume small amount of
the food but they damage the food to the point that it becomes
unacceptable because of rotting or other defects
Cont...

• Physical
Excessive or insufficient heat or cold can spoil foods.
Improper atmosphere in closely confined storage at times
causes losses
Cont...

• Physiological
After harvest the produce is still living as it continues to perform
most of the metabolic reactions and maintain the physiological
systems that were present when it was attached to the plant
These reactions leads to continuous change
Some of these changes are desirable, but most are not wanted
Respiration: Respiration is the process by which stored organic
materials (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) are broken down into
simple end products with a release of energy
C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + 686 kcal heat
• Respiration results in loss of food reserves, loss of flavor, especially
sweetness, loss of salable dry weight, and release of heat that
increases the costs of refrigeration, and release of CO 2 thus, requiring
extensive ventilation
Ho et al., 2016
• Respiration involves degradation of food reserves, especially sugars, in
order to produce chemical energy (in the form of ATP and NADH)
needed to maintain cellular metabolic activity
• The rate of deterioration of harvested commodities is proportional to
their respiration rate
• Commodities with high respiration rates will have short potential
storage lives
• Commodities with low respiration rates will have long potential storage
lives
Cont...

• According to their respiration behavior during maturation and ripening,

fruits are classified to either climacteric or non-climacteric
• Climacteric fruits – show a large increase in respiration and ethylene
production during ripening
• Non-climacteric fruits – show no change in their generally low
respiration and ethylene production rates during ripening
Cont...

Climacteric fruits: banana, mango, avocado, apple....

Non climacteric fruits: orange, lemon, grape, strawberry...

Respiratory patterns of some harvested climacteric fruits.

SOURCEJ.B.Biale(1950) Postharvest physiology and
biochemistry of fruits,Alii/.
Generalized patterns of growth, respiration and ethylene during development, maturation
and senescence of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits (adapted from Wills et al. 2007)
Respiration during ripening of tomato and banana
Ethylene production
• Ethylene (C2H4) is a simple gaseous organic molecule
• Ethylene is naturally synthesized in plants, but also evolves from
engines and fires. It is biologically active at very low concentrations in
the range of ppm levels
• As a plant hormone, it is involved in regulation of growth, ripening,
senescence and abscission processes
– promotes the biosynthesis of several enzymes by regulating the expression of
their genes
 Ethylene has been shown to be produced
from methionine via a pathway that includes
the intermediates S-adenosyl-methionine and
1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid
(ACC).
The final step in the ethylene biosynthesis
requires the presence of oxygen, and is
inhibited at low levels of oxygen, and at
elevated levels of carbon dioxide.
Ethylene biosynthetic pathways (Bleecker and Kende, 2000)
Generalized patterns of growth, respiration and ethylene during development, maturation
and senescence of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits (adapted from Wills et al. 2007)
 μL / L

Effects of applied ethylene on respiration of climacteric

and non-climacteric fruits. SOURCE J.B. Biale (1964)
Growth, maturation, and senescence in fruits
These physiological processes should be
minimized to preseve qualities of crops
during storage !
Postharvest losses

• “Food loss” is defined as food that is available for human

consumption but goes unconsumed due to
 losses in quality
losses in quantity
Losses in quality

• Crop quality can be defined as properties that satisfy

consumers requirements, desire and expectations.
• Fruits and vegetable attain peak quality at mature stage
 Appearance
• The appearance of fruits can be considered as the most
important quality factor influencing consumers’ purchase, and is
the main criteria used in fruit grading
• it is evaluated by optical senses
– colour, size, shape
Cont...

Flavour: flavor also turns to influence consumers’

acceptance of fruits
Flavour comprises taste and odour (aroma)
Most fruits when ripe are characterized by a sweet taste, with
an appealing aroma
But certain fruits have sour, bitter and other taste parameters
Aroma production is a consequence of the synthesis of
several volatile compound during ripening
Cont...

Texture: the textural properties of a food are that group of

physical characteristics that arise from the structural elements
of the food, are sensed primarily by the feeling of touch
• Fruit ripening is a highly coordinated, genetically programmed, and
irreversible phenomenon involving a series of physiological,
biochemical and organoleptic changes that lead to the
development of a soft and edible fruit with desirable quality attributes
• In climacteric fruit, the natural increase in ethylene production during
ripening stimulates its own synthesis – a phenomenon called
“autocatalytic production of ethylene”
Exposure to external ethylene also enhances autocatalytic
production of ethylene and ripening
• Nutrient : nutrients cannot be perceived using the
senses, it turns to be a less important quality
parameter affecting consumers choices
Cont...

• Generally, ethylene production in climateric increases:

 With maturity at harvest
 After physical damage (dropping, wounding)
 In decayed fruit
 At increasing temperatures up to 30°C
 During stresses (water stress, chilling, etc.)
Cont...

• On the other hand, ethylene biosynthesis is reduced by:

 Low storage temperatures
 Reduced O2 levels (below 8%)
 Elevated CO2 levels (above 2%)
Cont...

• Beside its own biosynthesis, harvested produce may be

exposed to atmospheric ethylene
 Sources for atmospheric ethylene include exhaust from trucks
and forklifts, pollution from industrial activity and burning of
fuels, fires, and from nearby ripening climacteric fruit
Cont...

• Commercial postharvest applications of ethylene are used

to
 Promote full and uniform ripening of bananas, avocado, mango
and green-harvested tomatoes
 Promote color change (degreening) in citrus fruit
Cont...

• Considerations to achieve uniform ripening

 Temperature between 18-25 °C
RH about 90-95%
Ethylene concentration between 1-100 ppm
Duration of treatment between 1-5 days
Adequate air circulation in ripening room
Ventilation and air exchange to prevent excess accumulation of
CO2
Cont...

• Measures to reduce ethylene effects:

 Eliminate the sources of ethylene
• Do not hold stocks of ripen fruit near ethylene sensitive commodities
• Use electric powered forklifts
• The truck loading area should be isolated from handling and storage
areas
• Remove decayed pellets of fruit
• Do not smoke or burn fires in the packinghouse area
Cont...

 Ventilation
• Harvested produce synthesize ethylene. Therefore, simple ventilation
(using an intake fan and a passive exhaust) can effectively remove
excess ethylene
 Ethylene absorbers
• Ethylene may be absorbed from storage rooms by using chemical
scavengers, such as potassium permanganate and charcoal
 Inhibition of ethylene action
• Application 1-MCP (1-methylcyclopropene)
Cont...
• Water loss
 Water loss is a main cause of deterioration because it results
in:
• Direct loss of salable weight
• Loss in appearance (wilting and shriveling)
• Loss of textural quality (softening, crispness)

peach
• Ways to reduce water loss after harvest
Low temperatures
 High RH
 Prevent surface injuries
 Application of waxes or other coatings
 Wrapping with plastic films
Physical damage

 Physical damage (surface injuries, bruising, vibration damage)

is a main contributor to deterioration
 The damaged areas accelerate water loss, stimulate ethylene
production, and provide sites for pathogen invasion
Packaging should be designed to prevent
physical damage to produce, and be easy
to handle.
Other injuries

• Exposure of the commodity to undesirable temperatures

can result in physiological disorders
• Freezing injury
results when commodities are held below their freezing
temperatures. The disruption caused by freezing usually results
in immediate collapse of the tissues and total loss of the
commodity
Cont...

• Chilling injury: Chilling injury occurs when crops develop

temperature-associated physiological disorders or
abnormalities when exposed to temperatures above those
which would cause them to freeze
• The exact mechanism by which chilling injury affects the
crop has still not been fully determined. It has been shown
to be concerned with loss of membrane integrity and ion
leakage from cells and changes in enzyme activity (Wang
1982)
Cont...

• The most common symptoms of chilling injuries include

surface and internal browning, pitting, water soaked
areas, uneven ripening or failure to ripen, development of
off flavors, and increased decay incidence
Mango

Peach
Cold store chart

Chilling sensitive
Non-chilling commodities are
sensitive stored at 8-13C
commodities
are stored at 0-
3°C
Heat injury

• Heat injury is induced by exposure to direct sunlight or

to excessively high temperatures. Its symptoms
include surface burning or scalding, un even ripening,
excessive softening, and desiccation
• Heat injury can lead to localized bleaching or general
collapse as a result of heating tissues above the thermal
death point
Enzymatic browning (oxidation)

• Some fruits and vegetables naturally contain the enzyme

polyphenoloxidase that, when combined with oxygen in
the air react to cause discoloration. This process begins
as soon as the skin or peel of the produce is removed
• Apples, pears, bananas, grapes, potatoes, lettuce, and
avocadoes are fruits and vegetables that will turn brown
as the flesh of the produce is exposed to oxygen
• Lemon juice, vinegar, powdered ascorbic acid (Vitamin
C)…all used full strength or diluted with water, will delay
and/or slow the enzymatic browning
Cont...

• Almost all postharvest technologies manipulate

metabolism of the harvested product by inhibiting
respiration rate of the product,
• and ethylene action
Quantitaive losses

• Consumption of food by rodents, birds, monkeys and

other large animals causes physical losses
(disappearance) of crops
• Quality losses leading to total loss of the crop