PROPER POST HARVEST HANDLING OF FRUITS IN MINIMIZING BEFORE THE TABLE
Keywords:
Fruits, Post-harvest Handling, Losses and PreventionAbstract
Time of harvest, methods of harvest, equipments and tools used in harvesting contribute to the wholesomeness of harvested fruits. This research work examined proper post harvest handling of fruits in minimizing losses before the table. Post harvest is a stage of crop production immediately after harvest, sorting, cleaning, grading, preservation, transporting, packing, processing and marketing. The implication revealed that farmers, marketers as well as consumers will benefit from the new technology of handling of fruits, such as packing house-operation, pre-cooling, post harvest treatment. Therefore, non application of this modern technology in the process of post harvest handling by illiterate farmers, marketers as well as consumers have brought about huge losses of food. Thus, the adoption and use of modern technologies as well method of harvesting have proved to be efficient in the preservation of post harvest handling of fruit. It is recommended that farmers should employ modern harvesting method; improvement is the enhancement made ob the post -harvest handling methods to reduce post harvest loses of fruits.References
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