ABSTRACT
Fruitsaregrownintemperate,subtropical,andtropicalregionsoftheworld.Amongthefruits grownintemperateandsubtropicalregions,grapesarethemajortemperatefruitintermof quantityproduced(Table2)(1),withlargequantitiesbeingutilizedtomakewineanddriedfruits. Themajorgrape-producingcountriesareItaly,France,theUnitedStates,Spain,andtheUSSR. Secondintermsofquantityproducedareoranges,manyofwhichareprocessedintojuice;and thirdareapples,probablythetemperatefruitmostofteneatenfresh,althoughlargequantitiesare alsojuiced,dried,andcanned(4).Inrecentyears,kiwifruithasbecomeincreasinglypopularin theinternationalmarket.Theproductionofthisfruitisrapidlyincreasingeveryyear.Tropical fruitproductionisarapidlyexpandingindustry.Bananas,mango,pineapples,andpapayaare importanttropicalfruitshavingcommercialsignificanceininternationaltrade(5).Inaddition, lycheeisbecomingapopularfruitinAsianmarkets.Thesubtropicalregionsoftheworldhave expandedtheirtropicalfruitproductionoverthelast20years.Inmanyofthesecountries,tropical fruitshavebecomeanimportantsourceofexportrevenue.TheUnitedStatesistheleading produceroffruitsintheworld,followedbyBrazil,Italy,India,France,theUSSR,andChina(6).
