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Effects Of Pre Harvest Factors On The Final Quality Of A Product

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Effects of Pre-harvest Factors
Pre-harvest factors can influence the final quality of a product including papaya. Post-harvest product qualities develop during growing of the product and are maintained and not improved by post-harvest technologies (Hewett, 2006). Depending on the cultivar, maturity, climate, soil type and fertility, the nutritional composition of a fruit at harvest can vary widely. For example Banana and papayas increase in carotenoid content with maturation and ripeness, but the ascorbic acid content decrease in bananas and increase in papayas during ripening (Lee, 2000).Even within a cultivar, there is a large plant-to-plant variation and within-plant variation in nutrient composition of fruit harvested from the same field (Shewfelt, 1990).
Water availability, sunlight, fertilization and chemical applications are some of the pre-harvest factors which not only affect crop growth but also internal quality characteristics of the harvested product, including flavor. Pre-harvest treatment with aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) suppressed volatile production in pears by 50% and heavy rains prior to harvest dilute flavor compounds in tomato (Romani R, 1983).
Effects of Harvest Maturity
Maturity is among the critical factors influencing the abundance of volatile compounds in papaya fruit. To optimize volatile content for flavor, papaya fruits should be harvested at an optimal eating quality as opposed to immature papaya fruits which are often harvested in order to

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