ABSTRACT
As marketing processes become increasingly intricate, the factors that influence post-harvest food losses for perishables vary greatly. Foods from both plants and animals make up the majority of people’s diets. The primary source of energy in the diets of the majority of people worldwide is starchy staple food, mainly cereal grains. Pre-harvest production practices can have a significant impact on the quality and quantity of post-harvest returns and lead to the rejection or downgrading of produce at the time of sale. One of the reasons for post-harvest losses in fresh food is the deterioration of the plant’s physiology. Physiology is the study of living organisms’ internal processes. One of the most important contributing factors to water loss is the type of plant part’s surface area to volume ratio. As the volume decreases, the amount of water that is lost through evaporation increases as well.
