Postharvest Handling and Diseases of Horticultural Produce

Postharvest Handling and Diseases of Horticultural Produce describes all the postharvest techniques, handling, pre-cooling, postharvest treatment, edible coating and storage of the horticultural produce available to handle perishable horticultural food commodities, covering the areas of horticulture, agricultural process engineering, postharvest technology, plant pathology and microbiology. Postharvest diseases of major fruits and vegetables, with their causal agents, are described. The integrative strategies for management of postharvest diseases include effectively inhibiting the growth of pathogens, enhancing the resistance of hosts and improving environmental conditions, with results that are favourable to the host and unfavourable to the pathogen growth, including biotechnological approaches. Adopting a thematic style, chapters are organized by type of treatment, with sections devoted to postharvest risk factors and their amelioration. The chapters are written by experts in the fields of plant pathology, horticulture, food science, etc. Core insights into identifying and utilizing appropriate postharvest options for minimizing postharvest losses and enhancing benefits to end-users are also provided. Features Presents the most recent developments in the field of postharvest handling technologies and diseases in a single volume Includes postharvest diseases of cut flowers, fruits, vegetables and tuber crops Appropriate for students, researchers and professionals Written by experts and can be used as a reference resource