Post Harvest Handing Of CitrusGroup no : 02

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Introduction• By the year 2050, the world population is expected to reach 9

billion people

• Demand for food will increase by 60 percent ( United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization)

• Increasing food production is not enough

• Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world goes to waste – a staggering 1.3 billion tons every year

• In the fight against global hunger, we must also address postharvest los.

• Postharvest loss - Collective food loss all along the food production chain, from harvest and handling, to storage and processing, to packing and transportation

• The causes of postharvest loss are varied and complex, depending upon weather, region, and crops

• But common culprits in the developing world include lack of proper storage, lack of transportation, and lack of information on where and how food is lost

• To escape from this problem, it is require to do “Proper Post Harvest Handling”

Post Harvest Handling

• In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing

• The instant a crop is removed from the ground, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate

• Post-harvest treatment largely determines final quality, whether a crop is sold for fresh consumption, or used as an ingredient in a processed food product

• Effective handling decreases postharvest losses

Citrus Non climacteric fruit Major Growing Areas : Dry and Intermediate

zones Economics & Marketing availability

Lemon : April - August Lime : April - July Grapefruit : May -August

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom : plantae• Phylum : magnoliophyta• Class : magnoliopsida• Order : sapindales• Family : rutaceae• Genus : citrus L.

Important Species Citrus aurantiifolia – Key Lime Citrus maxima – Pomelo Citrus medica – Citron Citrus reticulata – Mandarin orange

Important hybrids Citrus × aurantium – Bitter orange Citrus × latifolia – Persian lime Citrus × limon – Lemon Citrus × limonia – Rangpur Citrus × paradisi – Grapefruit Citrus × sinensis – Sweet orange Citrus × tangerina – Tangerine

Most of these varieties are resistant to post harvest losses

Anatomy of Citrus fruit

Postharvest Deterioration Harvested fruit continue respiration Loose water but not replaced The respiratory rate of the rind is nearly ten

times as high as that of vesicles Rind plays a important physiological role in the

qualitative changes in storage Respiratory rates are stimulated by dropping

and bruising

• Normally 30-40% of Citrus fruit loss due to lack of proper post harvest handling practices

• Visible characteristics change in post harvest losses– Anatomical Characteristics– Physiological Characteristics– Morphological Characteristics

POST HARVEST HANDLING OF CITRUS

TYPES OF POST HARVEST LOSSES

1. Physiological disorders2. Diseases

01. Physiological Disorders

• Influence quality in the markets

• Causes: Pre- and post-harvest factors • Pre harvest: B, and Cu deficiency,

ammoniation, Zebra skin, fruit-splitting, creasing, sun burn, wind scar and freezing

• Postharvest factors:– Temperature, humidity, gaseous composition,

mechanical stress and aging

• Disorders: Puffiness, pitting, chilling injury, granulation, oleocellosis,

stem end down, stylar-end breakdown, and freezing injury

Blossom-End Clearing

BEC has also been referred as “wet bottoms,” “stylar-end clearing,” “water bottom,” “waterlog,” and “wet wick” Symptoms:– translucent, water soaked appearance of the

fruit peel (commonly at the blossom end)– caused by internal bruising and juice leakage

from juice vesicles

BEC affected fruit develop off flavors Visible within 24 hours after bruising Can affect up to 90% of the fruit in some loads

External symptoms of blossom-end clearing on grapefruit (left) compared to an un-injured fruit (right)

Internal symptoms of BEC on grapefruit

Factors Involved in BEC Development Fruit characteristics;– Seedless grapefruit (e.g. 'Ruby Red' or 'Marsh') are

most affected– Small fruit likely to develop BEC than large fruit– Thicker-skinned fruit develop less BEC than thin-

skinned fruit under the same conditions – The severity of BEC varies widely from year to year

and from grove to grove– BEC develops most often in late-season fruit

• Rough Handling– BEC never occurs while fruit are still attached to

the tree– Never develop on fruit handled very gently– Rough handling is the primary cause of fruit BEC– Most BEC develops as a result of rough handling in

the packing house

• Temperature & RH–BEC increases with higher temperatures–Harvesting earlier in the morning ,when

fruit temperatures are cooler will reduce the incidence of BEC–Holding fruit at low humidities prior to

packing increases fruit susceptibility to BEC compared to holding it at high humidities

Recommendations to Reduce BEC

• Carefully handle fruit during all harvesting and packing operations

• Harvest fruit earlier in the morning when fruit temperatures are lower– Be cautious, however, that fruit are not so turgid that

oil spotting (oleocellosis) results• Allow susceptible fruit harvested under warm

conditions to cool overnight (e.g. to 70oF or below) before packing

• Always hold fruit under high relative humidities

Other Physiological DisordersI. Granulation• Fruit which is dry or ricey• Causes:–over maturity, sun burn, freezing, lack of

water, excessive tree vigor, mite damage, cool, dry and windy conditions

• Keeping trees well irrigated will avoid fruit from drying out

2. Oleocellosis (Oil spotting)• Navel oranges, lemons, and limes mostly

affected.• Oil released from broken peel oil cells in the

flavedo.• Oils are toxic to the surface of the peel and

cause necrosis of the surface cells• Can reduced by avoiding harvest until the fruit

get turgid

Chilling Injury (CI)

• Collapse is not targeted oil glands• A collapse of discrete areas of the peel from

sunken darkened lesions which will slowly expand.

• Low RH enhance CI • Waxing-Reduce but not eliminate CI

Stem-End Rind Breakdown• Thin skinned fruit are more affected than thick

skinned fruit.• Collapse of rind tissues resulting in sunken

brown area which is irregular in shape.• Narrow ring of unaffected tissue immediately

around the stem area which has no stomata.• Control

-Hold fruits at high RH

Post Harvest Diseases of Citrus Fruits

Anthracnose- Colletotrichium gloeosporioides Septoria spot- Septoria depressa Blue & Green Mould-

Penicillium digitatum (green mould) P. italicum (blue mould)

Sour Rot- Galactomyctes citri-aurantii

Anthracnose Symptoms

⁻ Superficial leathery appearance⁻ Silver/grey to dark lesions⁻ Tear-staining pattern ⁻ Pink spores under humid conditions

Occurrence⁻ Infection occurs by rain-splash during autumn⁻ Ethylene degreening increases sensitivity to

anthracnose

• ManagementDead wood should be pruned as the fungus

harbours in dead branchesCopper-based fungicides application before

monsoonal rainsPostharvest treatment with Benzimidazole

fungicides may reduce fruit losses

Septoria spot• Symptoms

Dark brown collapsed lesions, with a purple tinges Black specks develop in decayed area

• Occurrence

Mainly inland citrus regions Fruit more susceptible after frosts

• Management Field application of copper-based fungicides

Blue & Green MouldSymptoms

Softening of damaged tissue White fungal growth, which progressively

turns blue or green as spores develop Occurrence

Infections develop from damaged areas The growth of mould increases with

storage temperatures Late season fruit more susceptible

Management

Good hygiene and sorting

Sanitation destroys spores in recirculating water and packing line equipment

Apply postharvest fungicides within 24 hours

Lower storage

Sour Rot• Symptoms

Very soft, watery decay Distinct margin between decayed & healthy tissue

• Occurrence Infection occurs in damaged fruit Sour rot spores in soil can accumulate in recirculating

water in dips and drenches

• Management Careful handling reduces rind damage Apply Guazatine fungicide within 24hrs of harvest

Some Other Diseases

Stem end rot Black rot Brown rot Botrytis rot

Postharvest Storage

• Citrus fruits have relatively long post harvest life

• Loose skinned fruits easily deteriorate at high humidity

• Pre storage curing of the fruits also reduces decay and chilling injury during storage

• Each variety has different optimum conditions for storage

Controlled-atmosphere storage

Research has been done Commercially not used because:– Economic reasons–Physiological characteristics of fruit– Elevated CO2 has no beneficial effect

– Low O2 stimulates ethanol and acetaldehyde

Group Members

UWU/EAG/11/0026 S.Rishibamathana UWU/EAG/11/0027

T.A.D.D.L.Thanaweera UWU/EAG/11/0028 D.N.Nanayakkara UWU/EAG/11/0029 Y.S.M.M.P.Yallarawa UWU/EAG/11/0030 M.Aphinaya UWU/EAG/11/0031 R.A.S.N.Ranasinghe

Thank You!