Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops

This book serves as a comprehensive, ready-reference manual for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as teachers, in the fields of horticulture and postharvest technology. Spanning 33 chapters, the book covers a wide range of topics, including the operation of equipment and machinery, maturity indices, pre-storage treatments, low-cost storage technologies, processing, and value-added products such as jams, jellies, marmalades, beverages, pickles, chutneys, tomato products, and canned fruits and vegetables. Additionally, the book includes ten annexes that provide supplementary information, including fruit product orders, temperature corrections for measuring TSS, maturity indices, and units of conversion, as well as instructions for preparing cleaning and chemical solutions, food additives, and a list of machinery and equipment suppliers. The book has been written in a simple and straightforward manner, with separate instructions for students and teachers, and relevant information on each topic, making it easy to conduct practicals in a systematic manner. The book also includes colored plates of some machinery and equipment to aid in their identification, even if they are not available in a particular laboratory. The book is an effort to fulfill the long-standing need for practical instruction on various aspects of postharvest technology in horticultural crops, and it will be of great use to students, researchers, teachers, and anyone interested in the subject.