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In mechanised harvesting, processing may also begin as part of the actual harvest process, with initial cleaning and sorting performed by the harvesting machinery. Initial post-harvest storage conditions are critical to maintaining quality. Each crop has an optimum range of storage temperature and humidity.
Post-harvest losses occur between harvest and the moment of human consumption. They include on-farm losses, such as when grain is threshed , winnowed , and dried. Other on-farm losses include inadequate harvesting time, climatic conditions, practices applied at harvest and handling, and challenges in marketing produce.
Post-harvest losses of vegetables and fruits occur at all points in the value chain from production in the field to the food being placed on a plate for consumption. Post-harvest activities include harvesting , handling, storage , processing , packaging , transportation and marketing .
Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops in the field after harvest. During harvest, there is food that is left or missed often because it does not meet store standards for uniformity. Sometimes, fields are left because they were not economically profitable to harvest.
Food loss continues in the post-harvest stage, but the amounts of post-harvest loss involved are relatively unknown and difficult to estimate. [50]: 1 Regardless, the variety of factors that contribute to food loss, both biological/environmental and socio-economical, would limit the usefulness and reliability of general figures.
Different food preservation methods have different impacts on the quality of the food and food systems. Some traditional methods of preserving food have been shown to have a lower energy input and carbon footprint compared to modern methods. [3] [2] Some methods of food preservation are also known to create carcinogens.
All vegetables benefit from proper post harvest care. A large proportion of vegetables and perishable foods are lost after harvest during the storage period. These losses may be as high as thirty to fifty percent in developing countries where adequate cold storage facilities are not available.
Climacteric fruits ripen after harvesting and so some fruits for market are picked green (e.g. bananas and tomatoes). Underripe fruits are also fibrous, not as juicy, and have tougher outer flesh than ripe fruits (see Mouth feel). Eating unripe fruit can lead to stomachache or stomach cramps, and ripeness affects the palatability of fruit.