Preparation for the fresh fruit market

In order to protect nutritional quality, delay senescence, minimize spoilage, and improve appearance and marketability, various postharvest treatments are applied to citrus fruits before storage. Degreening is done mainly to improve color. Applications of surface coatings, fungicides, and other chemicals are common before fruits are marketed or stored under ambient or refrigerated conditions. These treatments are also effective in reducing chilling injury in refrigerated storage. Plant growth regulators are used to delay aging/senescence and various fungicides are being used to control rots. Gamma radiations are also being tried to reduce microbial spoilage or disinfest the fruits with fruit flies other insect-pests. These are supplemental treatments and cannot substitute refrigeration for long-term storage. Pre-cooling is done before fruits are stored under refrigerated conditions. Safer and more effective supplementary treatments are being developed throughout the world. Common fungicide treatments and also ecofriendly alternatives to be used with wax are given. Commonly used postharvest treatments such as degreening, curing, wax coating, edible coatings, application of growth regulators, packing-line operations and effects of all these treatments on fruit quality are discussed in this chapter, with a focus on packinghouse activities.