FST 2232 Post Harvest Technology of Fruits and Vegetables - 2025

on successful completion of this course students should be able to;

1. Identify the causes for postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables

2.Describe the significance of postharvest losses and the economic benefits of minimizing them

3. Discuss the handling, storage and processing technologies necessary for reduction of postharvest losses & value addition of fruits vegetables

4. Apply the gained knowledge to minimize the postharvest losses of common fruits and vegetables

5. Explain the postharvest practices involved in production of export agriculture crops, desiccated coconut and spices

Unit 1: Introduction to Postharvest Technology of Fruits & Vegetables: Basic objectives of postharvest technology: classification and composition of fruit and vegetables; causes and significance of post-harvest losses in fruit and vegetable sector, Management of pre harvesting

Unit 2: Basic postharvest treatments & handling practices: Cleaning, Grading & selection, Waxing, Sprout inhibition, Curing, Disinfestations

Unit 3: Pre/postharvest physiology/ biochemistry of fruits & vegetables: Maturation, Ripening, Hardening, Senescence, Abscission & associated biochemistry, Maturity indices for fruits & vegetables

Unit 4: Processes associated with fruit ripening: Ethylene in fruit ripening, Undesirable effects of ethylene, Factors influencing ripening, Commercial use of ethylene

Unit 5: Minimal processing of fruits & vegetables: Process flow, Importance of the process, Commodity selection, Problems & solutions

Unit 6: Transportation & storage of fruits & vegetables: Factors affecting storage life, Causes of losses during transportation & storage, Transport equipment, Product transit temperature management, Methods of Cold storage, Control and modified atmosphere storage

Unit 7: Temperature & Relative Humidity management practices: Pre- cooling of fruits & vegetables, Pre- cooling methods; Air cooling, Hydro cooling, forced air cooling, Vacuum cooling, Package icing; chilling injuries

Unit 8: Packaging & packing house operations: Package & packaging method selection, packaging materials for  fruits & vegetables, Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP)Types of MAP, Gases in MAP, Effect of gases in MAP

Unit 9: Coconut processing: Desiccated coconut (DC) production, Copra production, Virgin coconut oil, Scraped coconut, Coconut milk

Unit 10: Postharvest technology of spices: Processing of cardamom, nut meg, cinnamon, clove, pepper

 
Students should comply with the following requirements of the course to be eligible for the end-semester examination.

1. 80% attendance
2. Achieve a composite mark of at least 55
3. Successful completion of all assignments and continuous assessment. Incomplete works will be considered as “0” marks in the final assessment.
4. Submission of feedback for teacher and module evaluation. (If not submitted, continuous evaluation marks are not counted for the final assessment)

1. Handbook of Postharvest Technology, Cereals, Fruits, Vegetables, Tea, & Spices-Marcel Dekker, Inc. NY

2. Cultivation and Processing Bulletins of Pepper, Cocoa and Cinnamon, The Department of Export Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands & Forestry

3. Postharvest Technology of Fruits and Vegetables, Handling, Processing, Fermentation and Waste Management, volume 1 – L.R. Verma & V.K. Joshi

4. Postharvest Technology of Fruits and Vegetables, Handling, Processing, Fermentation and Waste Management, volume 2 – L.R. Verma & V.K. Joshi