ABSTRACT
The production of fruits and vegetables has increased from 203.0 million tonnes to 281.75 million tonnes since 2004-05 to 2017-18. At the same time, sizeable quantity of these is lost every year after harvest which is a significant economic loss. Losses in fruits, vegetables and flowers are estimated to vary between 20 to 30 per cent valued at nearly 8,000 to 12,000 crores annually depending upon the quality and market prices of produce. Astonishingly more than three lakh tones of cashews and millions liters of coconut water currently go to waste. Fresh horticultural crops are varied in morphological structure like roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. The word quality comes from the Latin qualitas, which represents attribute, property or basic nature of an object. However, it can be defined as the quality is a measure of the degree of excellence or acceptability by the consumer.
