Post harvest management of vegetables: A review

Horticulture is backbone of our country and greater population about 60-65% is directly or indirectly hooked in to it. In the export earnings for the country the role of horticultural produce is vital. In Indiaabout 20-40% of total horticulture produce wasted due to lack of post-harvest management of vegetables which resulted in huge financial loss. Most poor horticulture producers cannot meet the expense of modern technologies.Many metabolic changes occur in vegetables after harvesting that are influenced by disruption of supply of nutrients, water and growth regulators from the parent plant to the harvested vegetables. The overall process leads to postharvest deterioration of the produce. However, the losses are often reduced with adoption of postharvest management and use of processing technology of vegetable crops.