ABSTRACT
The growing demand for higher-quality fresh fruit and vegetables has revealed a worldwide problem concerning mechanical damage of products reaching the consumer through the distribution chain. Harvesting, handling, postharvest treatments, packaging, transport, and fruit distribution involve a large number of mechanical operations that subject the produce to dynamic loads. Mechanical damage is one of the most important factors that reduce produce quality. Loss due to bruising represents a substantial portion of total losses,1 and mechanical damage has long been internationally identified as the leading cause of quality loss at wholesale and retail levels for a number of fruits and vegetables.2,3 Minimizing injury caused by abrasion,
dropping, and shearing of produce will decrease postharvest losses, improve quality, and enhance growers’ returns. This chapter is a review of some factors that influence susceptibility of produce to mechanical damage and the biochemical effects of such injury on produce quality.
