ABSTRACT
Postharvest losses of fruits can be 5%–25% in developed countries and 20%–50% in developing countries, depending on the commodity. A recent survey carried out in the United Kingdom claims that an estimated 4.4 million apples, 5.5 million potatoes, 2.8 million tomatoes, 1.6 million bananas, and 1.2 million oranges are thrown in the trash every day due to deterioration problems. Based on those estimates, these ›ve items alone add up to 525,000 t of food waste each year (www.lovefoodhatewaste. com). The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service estimates that 57% of fresh fruits by weight and 51% of fresh vegetables by weight were not consumed in 2005. Fresh and processed products derived from the Rosaceae plant family (almonds, apples, apricots, blackberries, peaches, pears, plums, sweet cherries, tart cherries, strawberries, raspberries, roses, and other ornamentals) provide vital contributions to human nutrition, health, and well-being and collectively constitute the economic backbone of many rural economies in the United States. Although current domestic production of these crops is valued above $7 billion and global per-capita production and consumption is expanding in both domestic and export markets, the U.S. rosaceous crop industries face many limitations to pro›tability and sustainability. Overcoming these barriers requires rapid development and deployment of new cultivars with improved characteristics to meet dynamic industry, market, and consumer preferences. The diversity of Rosaceae species provides extraordinary opportunities for using fundamental genomics research to improve crops through targeted breeding programs (www.bioinfo.wsu.edu/gdr/), (www.anla. org/research/¯oriculture.htm), and (www.nationalberrycrops.org/).
