Post-harvest Losses in Perishables Foods Asha Kumari Ph. D. Scholar, Department of Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering SVCAET & RS, IGKV, Raipur email: <asha.online@gmail.com> India is second largest producer of food next to China with estimated food processing industry size at US$ 70 billion. In 2012, the production was 257 million tonnes of food grain (rice, wheat, coarse grains and pulses), 75 million tonnes of fruits and 149 million tonnes of vegetables. Out of these amounts, only 2.2 % of these are processed. In contrast, countries like USA (65%) and China (23%) are far ahead of India in reducing the wastage and enhancing the value addition and shelf life of the farm products. The losses in postharvest sector are estimated to be from 10 to 25 per cent in durables, semi-perishables and products like milk, meat, fish and eggs. Post-harvest Food Loss (PHL)is defined as measurable qualitative and quantitative food loss along the supply chain, starting at the time of harvest till its consumption or other end uses. PHLs can occur either due to food waste or due to inadvertent losses along the way. The most important goals of post-harvest handling are to keep the product cool, thereby avoiding moisture loss and slowing down undesirable chemical changes and to avoid physical damage such as bruising in order to delay spoilage. This in turn will help ensure increased food security, as food security goes beyond food production to include distribution and marketing, adequate and stable supply, and accessibility to food. Perishable foods are those that will spoil the most quickly and require refrigeration. Non-perishable foods, on the other hand, are those that will take a very, very long time to spoil and don't require refrigeration . Â Maximum post-harvest losses of different commodity including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables are compared as shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1: Maximum post-harvest losses of different commodity