Texture

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Postharvest changes are natural physiological processes occurring in all types of fruits and vegetables. Postharvest changes mainly influence the inner structure of the products, but are reflected in significant changes in the essential texture attributes. Thus, it is necessary to reduce inappropriate storage conditions, to satisfy consumer expectations offering high-quality purchased products. Inadequate storage conditions cause texture changes, dehydration, water loss, too fast ripening, and early senescence of products, which are mainly reflected as fruit softening and specific unpleasant texture attributes such as wooliness. Assuring an appropriate temperature and an adequate relative humidity during storage will slow down these negative changes, but will never improve the texture of the harvested products. Thus, to have the best possible fruit/vegetable texture it is essential to harvest products at the proper time and to guarantee optimum storage conditions.