FRUITS AND

VEGETABLE
POSTHARVEST
PHYSIOLOGY

Course Number: Description Prepared by: G.P.Pantuhan

Contents

1 Morpho-anatomical Structure

2 Composition and Attributes

3 Challenges

4 Harvesting Indices
Importance of knowledge on
fruit and vegetable
morphology in processing
1. quality of products depend on quality of
commodities morphological parts upon
harvest
2. harvest maturity of some fruits and
vegetables can be determined by some
morphological parts
3. some morphological parts undergo
physical changes during processing
4. only some morphological parts are
included in processing
MORPHO-ANATOMICAL
STRUCTURE
1. Roots
OF FAV
a. Tap root enlarged, functions as
storage organ; ex: carrots, radish,
beet sweet potato, jicama
(singkamas), yam (ube)
b. Lateral or fibrous root removed
after harvest
2. Stem upward growing axis of a
plant that has nodes from which the
undeveloped leaves or flower buds
arise
MORPHO-ANATOMICAL
STRUCTURE OF FAV
3. Flower basic parts are petals,
calyx, pistil or carpel (female part),
stamen (male part), inflorescence
(a group of flowers, ex:
cauliflower)

4. Leaves
Blade expanded part of the leaf
Petiole attaches the leaf to the
stem
MORPHO-ANATOMICAL
5. Fruits composed
STRUCTURE OF FAVof fruit wall and
seeds
Fruit wall consists of peel and edible
portion
Peel outer part; serve as natural
packaging material and defense
against microorganism
Rind tough or leathery peel such as
mandarin
Pulp edible portion of the fruit
Aril fleshy outgrowth covering the
seed such as rambutan, lanzones,
WHAT IS A FRUIT?
Fruit refers to a mature ovary that
contains one or more seeds and may
include some floral parts; may be formed
from:

single and enlarged ovary (i.e., avocado,

peach, apple, orange)
WHAT IS A FRUIT?
multiple ovaries belonging to a
single flower (aggregate fruit or
etaeiro such as strawberries,
sugar apple, raspberries, and figs)
WHAT IS A FRUIT?
enlarged ovaries of several flowers
including accessory floral parts fused
together to form the fruit (aggregated
fruits like pineapples).
WHAT IS A FRUIT?
WHAT
As theIS A FRUIT?
fruit grows and develops, a
series of changes occur: immature
tissues generally have a firm
texture with discrete green colors in
the skin and pale neutral colors in
the interior.

As the fruit ripens, the firmness

decreases and the fruit becomes
more bright and attractive for
consumption, as pigmentation
changes and flavor and aroma
develop.
SPECIAL MORPHOLOGICAL
Asparagus:
PARTS OF FAVspear (stem tips with
unopened buds)
Banana blossom: bracts (tender
yellowish inner covering), male
florets, stalk
Cabbage head, lettuce, Chinese
cabbage: wrapper leaves loose
leaves that enclose the ball shaped
compact set of leaves called the head,
ribs (petiole)
Broccoli and cauliflower: curd or
crown (inflorescense), floret (each
flower)
SPECIAL MORPHOLOGICAL
PARTS OF FAV
Garlic bulb: cloves (enlarged
fleshy leafy bases enclosed by
papery scales)
Onion bulb: scales (modified leaf
bases or sheaths), papery scales
(dried bases of the older sheaths)
Potato: a modified stem, eyes
(depressions; actually a dormant
bud), eyebrow (slight depression
above the eye)
SPECIAL MORPHOLOGICAL
PARTS
Sweet OF FAV
corn: husk (green papery
covering that encloses the ear), ear
(composed of grains called kernels
attached to a hard part called cob), silk
(long hair-like parts), shank (bottom part
of the ear), young cob corn or baby
corn (undeveloped corn, no kernels,
edible part is the tender cob)
Tomato: blossom end (bottom part of
the fruit), stem scar (depressed top area
where the stem was attached), locule
(space inside where the seeds and juice
are found), fruit wall (edible part or
SPECIAL MORPHOLOGICAL
PARTS

OF FAV
Banana: bunch (whole set of fruits),
hands (group of fruits), fingers
(individual fruits connected to a thick part
called crown), cluster (hand that has
been divided or has some fingers
removed), transitional hand (hand with
some undeveloped fingers), false hand
(hand with all fingers undeveloped)
Cashew apple: nut (the fruit itself),
cashew apple (fleshy part)
Lanzones: bunch (fruits having one
common stem)
Mangosteen: shell (peel)
SPECIAL MORPHOLOGICAL
PARTS OF FAV
Citrus fruits:flavedo (thin, colored
layer), albedo (thick spongy layer
beneath flavedo), juice resicles
(edible part enclosed by juice sacs),
oil cells (contains the essential oil
that gives aroma)
Mango: peel, pulp, stone, seed,
cheeks (side of the fruit on both
sides of the stone), shoulder
(topmost level parts of the fruit on
both sides of the fruit)
SPECIAL MORPHOLOGICAL
PARTS OF FAV
Durian: shell or husk (hard peel
with spines), aril, locule, carpel
sutures (natural lines running from
top to bottom of the fruit)
Pineapple: crown (leaves on top
of the fruit), eyes (depressed area
on the sides), fruitlet (segments
where the eyes are located), shell
(outer inedible skin), core (middle
part which is a continuation of the
stem or stalk)
FRUIT COMPOSITION
Water ranging from 85% to
95% in most of them
- their high level of water is
responsible for their high
metabolic activity, which
makes fruits very perishable
and negatively affects fruit
sensitivity to mechanical
damages throughout
postharvest operations.
FRUIT COMPOSITION
carbohydrates, proteins, and
energy
essential vitamins, minerals,
and dietary fiber calcium,
phosphorus, iron, and
magnesium, vitamin A (-
carotenes), vitamin B
(thiamine, riboflavin, folic
acid), and vitamin C
(ascorbic acid)
CULTIVAR DIFFERENCES
Vary significantly not only in
appearance but also in
physicochemical attributes, flavor,
aroma, sensitivity to microbial
spoilage, chilling injury, and
mechanical damages

Geographical location, climate

conditions, cultural practices can
increase these differences greatly.
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES
The primary attributes are color,
appearance, texture, flavor and
nutritional value.
Fresh-cut fruits processes are
very light, with the aim to preserve
fresh-like characteristics of the
whole fruits, while conventional
processing includes heat
treatments for enzyme inactivation
and microbial control, which causes
significant changes in most quality
attributes of the fruit.
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES
Color very important for consumer
acceptance and preferences
- used as maturity stage indicator for
many fruits to determine the
harvest time, when to process, or
when the fruit is ready to eat
- directly related to the development
of other quality attributes of the
fruit, such as sweetness, flavor,
firmness, juiciness, and other
texture attributes
CHALLENGES OF THE TROPICAL
AND SUBTROPICAL FRUIT
INDUSTRY
Fruits grown in dry areas with
water irrigation meet the ideal
conditions for high-quality
products; however, the climate
conditions in the tropics usually are
not so easy to predict or control.
CHALLENGES OF THE TROPICAL
AND SUBTROPICAL FRUIT
INDUSTRY
Heavy rains, high-humidity
environments, and other weather
conditions can also largely affect
fruit composition, flavor, and
texture attributes as well as their
sensitivity to fruit decay and
mechanical injuries during
postharvest handling, which results
in quality variations along the year.
CHALLENGES OF THE TROPICAL
AND SUBTROPICAL FRUIT
INDUSTRY
Limitations in the state-of-the-art
technology for tropical fruits, with
limited availability of new resistant
cultivars (to diseases and pests),
enhanced yield and quality
attribute materials, cultivar
practices, and infrastructure.
PRE-HARVEST FACTORS
AFFECTING FRUIT
QUALITY
Agricultural practices, soil,
fertilizers, climate, cultivars,
water supply, harvesting
indices and conditions, and
other preharvest factors
affect the quality of fruits.
PRE-HARVEST FACTORS
AFFECTING FRUIT
QUALITY
Good agricultural practices (GAPs)
have an important impact on the
food safety of fresh fruits and might
also influence the final quality of
processed foods. They are
implemented to reduce health risks
on the agricultural produce, such as
hygienic practices in the field,
postharvest handling, worker hygiene
as well as sanitary procedures for
tools, equipment, packages, and
 HARVESTING
are indicators usedINDICES
to define whether a
fruit is ready to be picked, and they vary
among fruits and regions.
Best fruit characteristics largely depend on
its final use (fresh market or processing),
distance to markets, produce sensitivity to
handling, expected storage life, and
consumer preferences.
Harvesting indices should guarantee the
best possible quality for the final use but
at the same time, they should allow
product handling, processing,
transportation, and commercialization with
minimum losses in the quality and quantity
HARVESTING INDICES
a. Subjective harvesting criteria
include perception of the fruit
using the human senses: sight
(color, size, shape, and fruit
appearance), touch (texture
changes), hearing (sound when
cutting, handling, and hitting the
fruit), smell (odors), and taste
(sweetness, sourness, bitterness,
and flavor).
HARVESTING INDICES
a. Subjective harvesting criteria
include perception of the fruit
using the human senses: sight
(color, size, shape, and fruit
appearance), touch (texture
changes), hearing (sound when
cutting, handling, and hitting the
fruit), smell (odors), and taste
(sweetness, sourness, bitterness,
and flavor).
 HARVESTING
b. Objective criteria INDICES
do not depend on
the harvester or quality evaluator, but on
fruit characteristics or properties which
are recorded or measured.
- measurements used for harvesting are
the time elapsed from fruit set, light or
heat hours in the fields during the fruit
development, respiration rate, and
physical and chemical attributes of the
fruit (size, weight, shape, skin thickness,
fruit firmness, soluble solids content,
acidity, aroma synthesis, starch
hydrolysis, chlorophyll degradation,
carotenoids, and anthocyanins synthesis,
 MATURITY INDICES
Index Examples
Elapsed days from full bloom
Banana
to harvest
Mean heat units during
Mango
development
Development of abscission
Melon
layer
Surface morphology and
structure
Netting formation Cantaloupe melon
Changes in fruit gloss or Sweet granadilla
surface characteristics (orange passion fruit),
yellow passion fruit,
avocado
Seed loosing Cherimoya
MATURITY INDICES
Size All fruits
Cherry, watermelon,
Specific gravity
pineapple, mango
Shape
Finger shape
(roundness or Banana, plantain
angularity)
Full cheeks or
shoulders Mango
protuberance
Textural properties:
Firmness Avocado
Tenderness Apple
MATURITY INDICES
External color Most fruits
Internal color and
structure
Tomato, sweet passion
Jellylike material
fruit (granadilla), yellow
formation
passion fruit (maracuya)
Flesh color Mango
Compositional
factors
Mango, purple or red
Starch content
mombin
Pineapple, papaya,
melon, orange, sweet
Sugar content
MATURITY INDICES

Pomegranate,
Acid content,
citrus, papaya,
sugar/acid ratio
melon, kiwifruit
Juice content Citrus fruits
Oil content Avocado
Dry matter
Avocado
content
Astringency
Persimmon, date
(tannin content)
MATURITY INDICES
For most fruits, sugar and acid
content are very important. In
general, sweetness increases
(measured as soluble solids
content or Brix) and acidity
decreases (% titratable acidity) as
the fruit ripens, and their ratio is
directly related to taste and
acceptability.
MATURITY INDICES
Product sensitivity to bruises and
other physical injuries also changes
as the fruit ripens, as mechanical
properties of fruits vary due to
inherent changes in cell walls, mem
branes, and tissues. Unripe fruits
usually can resist larger impact,
compression, vibration, and
puncture forces than mature fruits
and thus can be handled more
easily without causing mechanical
damages.
MATURITY INDICES
For the fresh market, the fruit
should resist postharvest handling
and arrive to the final consumer
with its fresh appearance, whereas
for the processing industry,
quality requirements can be very
variable, depending on the end
product, production yields, and
product resistance to process opera
tions.
Thank
You!