Interpretation Of Quality Evaluations Of Horticultural Crops

QUALITY COMPONENTSQuality of fruits and vegetables is a combination of attributes or properties that give them value in terms of human food. Components of quality include appearance, texture, flavor, and nutritive value (Table 1). Growers and shippers are concerned that their commodities have good appearance and few visual defects. But to them a useful cultivar of a given commodity must score high on yield, disease resistance, ease of harvest, and shipping quality. Plant breeders have given these characteristics higher priority over flavor and nutritional quality. To receivers and market distributors, quality of appearance is most important; they are also keenly interested in firmness and long storage life. Traditionally, postharvest biology and technology research has concentrated on using appearance and texture as parameters for quality evaluation (28). Consumers see quality fruits as ones that look good, are firm, and offer good flavor and nutritive value. Although they buy on the basis of appearance and feel, their satisfaction is dependent upon good eating quality.Fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables play a very significant role in human nutrition, especially as sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber (4,12,25,30). Postharvest losses in vitamin content, particularly vitamin C, can be substantial. These losses are enhanced by extended storage, higher temperature, low relative humidity, physical damage, and chilling injury (8). A large volume of data on composition and compositional changes of fruits and vegetables is available (14,15,29). But many gaps exist and further research is needed. As more becomes known about human

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