RT editorial
T1 Evolution of Compounds and Characteristics of Crops during Ripening and after Harvest
A1 Velasco González de Peredo, Ana
A1 Fernández Barbero, Gerardo
A2 Química Analítica
AB Consumers are increasingly asking for products with better organoleptic character-istics, flavors, aromas, colors, attractiveness, etc. Farmers must estimate, with maximumprecision, the optimum harvest time, so that their product reaches the consumer or industryin the best condition, thus providing a product with the highest quality. In addition, oncethe fruit or food has been collected, it must be ensured that the quality, organoleptic andfood safety characteristics remain in within the optimal range until it reaches the consumeror the food processing plant.With respect to the optimal ripening time of the fruit, in recent decades there havebeen hundreds of works that study the optimum time for fruit harvesting based on itscompositional and organoleptic characteristics. In addition to genetic factors, thereare many other factors (both environmental conditions and agronomic factors) involved inthe development of fruits and plants regarding the optimum stage of ripening or harvestingdepending on the specific characteristics to be achieved. Among these factors, the availabil-ity of water, the growth temperature, the type of soil, the fertilization of the soil,the irradiance, irrigation, the age of the plant, among many others, stand out.With all these factors, farmers have multiple tools to modulate the growth of their cropsand harvest them under optimal conditions according to the desired characteristics.Once the crop has been collected in the best conditions, it must be ensured that thesecharacteristics are preserved in the best possible way until it reaches the consumer or thecrop is processed. There are many factors that can affect the stability of crops once harvested,such as time after harvest, storage temperature, storage humidity, thermaldrying treatments, amount of oxygen, microbiological contamination, additionof chemical agents, postharvest treatments (washing, cutting, and waxing),etc. The instability that can affect the harvested crops can produce a loss of organolepticcharacteristics, the degradation or loss of compounds with biological interest, such asantioxidant compounds, or the complete degradation of the product. In any case, farmershave a large number of tools and scientific knowledge at their disposal in order to minimizethese effects.
PB Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
SN 2073-4395
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31778
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31778
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 05-nov-2026