Postharvest Management of Vegetable Crops
Course Overview
Official detailed syllabus from the ICAR Sixth Deans’ Committee curriculum.
Course Objectives
To understand pre- and post-harvest factors responsible for deterioration in vegetable crops
Theory Syllabus
Determination of maturity in different vegetable crops, assessment of post-harvest losses, pre-harvest methods and practices affecting post-harvest shelf life of vegetables, mechanized harvesting of vegetables, pre-cooling of vegetables using different techniques, post-harvest chemical and non-chemical treatments to enhance shelf life, sorting and grading for packaging, ripening of vegetables, packaging of vegetables including latest techniques like MAP, storage of vegetables including latest techniques like CA storage, food safety and quality, non-destructive methods of quality analysis, quality of raw material for processing, transportation and destination handling, marketing, treatments before shipment and storage, fresh-cut vegetables.
Practical Syllabus
Practices in judging the maturity of vegetables, harvesting methods and tools. Methods used for pre-cooling and their efficiency measurements. Post-harvest chemical treatments to extend shelf life. Sorting and grading methods. Ripening techniques used in climacteric vegetables. Traditional and latest safe storage techniques. Respiration measurements in harvested produce. Field visit to post-harvest and processing industry.
Suggested Readings
1. Chadha K L and Pareek O P. 1996. Advances in Horticulture. Vol. IV. Malhotra Publ. House.
2. Chattopadhyay S K. 2007. Handling, Transportation and Storage of Fruit and Vegetables. Gene Tech Books, New Delhi.
3. Haid N F and Salunkhe S K. 1997. Postharvest Physiology and Handling of Fruits and Vegetables. Grenada Publ.
4. Mitra S K. 1997. Postharvest Physiology and Storage of Tropical and Sub-tropical Fruits. CABI.
5. Paliyath G, Murr DP, Handa AK and Lurie S. 2008. Postharvest Biology and Technology of Fruits, Vegetables and Flowers. Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN: 9780813804088.
6. Ranganna S. 1997. Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetable Products. Tata McGraw-Hill.
7. Stawley J K. 1998. Postharvest Physiology of Perishable Plant Products. CBS Publishers.
8. Sudheer K P and Indira V. 2007. Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops. New India Publ. Agency.
9. Thompson A K. 2014. Fruit and Vegetables: Harvesting, Handling and Storage (Vol. I, II) Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK. ISBN: 9781118654040.
10. Verma L R and Joshi V K. 2000. Postharvest Technology of Fruits and Vegetables: Handling, processing, fermentation and waste management. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi, India. ISBN 8173871086.
11. Willis R, McGlassen W B, Graham D and Joyce D. 1998. Postharvest: An Introduction to the Physiology and Handling of Fruits, Vegetables and Ornamentals. CABI.
12. Wills RBH and Golding J. 2016. Postharvest: An Introduction to the Physiology and Handling of Fruit and Vegetables. CABI Publishing, ISBN 9781786391483.
13. Wills RBH and Golding J. 2017. Advances in Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Technology, CRC Press, ISBN 9781138894051