Perform quality inspections on fresh produce & food, quickly, and consistently for increased customer satisfaction.
Free quality control app for fresh produce and food. Perform quality control on fresh produce and food products. Easy quality control for supermarkets and supplier quality management.
The Producepak Quality Control app provides comprehensive quality inspection for fresh produce and food products. Create your own quality control templates or user our selection of pre-defined quality control templates.
Quality control is essential because fruits are perishable and delicate and can be affected by handling, storage conditions, weather, pests and diseases, internal changes, and genetics.
Accurate fruit quality assessment is critical on the farm, as well as during packaging, storage, transport, artificial ripening, retailing, and research.
Internal fruit quality, ripening gas analysis in storage and packing, and plant stress monitoring are vital throughout the supply chain.
Many technologies are available to measure quality, from traditional laboratory tests and destructive tools to cutting-edge, non-destructive devices.
Fruit in supermarkets today must be of high quality to provide adequate nutritional benefit and remain attractive to consumers. Fresh fruits must be shipped quickly and stored under proper conditions to retain their quality. Thus, regular fruit quality testing and gas analysis is necessary at several stages of the supply chain to ensure that fruits maintain their quality and freshness.
Why is Fruit & Vegetable Quality Control Important?
Fruits are highly perishable and susceptible to damage because of their high water content. From the time of harvest to when they appear on the shelf, fruits go through many different environments. The conditions in these different facilities and the handling mode influence the quality of fruits.
Ripeness and maturity:
The first condition which influences fruit quality is their maturity or ripeness at harvest. Fruits harvested too early will not ripen properly and will be of inferior quality when they reach the retailers. When fruits are left too long to mature, the time for transport is shortened.
Handling of fruit & vegetables:
Climacteric fruits are harvested when fully mature but still unripe and firm. But non-climacteric fruits are harvested when they are nearly ripe and soft. Both categories of fruits need careful handling when plucked, but it is necessary to be very careful with ripe fruits because they are soft and easily damaged. Even mature, non-ripe fruits handled roughly will bruise later, leading to more rapid decay. Bruising can also occur during transportation or packaging, affecting the fruit’s quality.
Weather conditions and storage:
Extreme or unfavorable weather conditions can affect fruit quality, especially in the absence of cold storage. High temperatures and low humidity can cause shriveling due to water content loss.
Pest and diseases in the fresh produce supply chain:
Microbial and pest infestations will lead to yield loss or spoil the quality. Both pests and diseases can spread during storage to spoil batches of harvest. Rodents are also another problem during storage. Fruits damaged by pests can decay fast and pose health problems.
Internal changes of fruit during transit and storage:
Fruits continue to respire, transpire, and ripen even after they are harvested and are accompanied by many biochemical changes that can negatively affect the quality of fruits. Loss of water content and ethylene production are two major causes. Due to improper storage or warm weather conditions, loss of water content leads to wilting, loss of color, firmness, texture, and taste. Ethylene, a gaseous phytohormone produced by fruits during ripening, can spread to other nearby batches triggering unplanned ripening and eventually leading to decay.
Storage and packaging conditions of fruit and vegetables:
Several fruits meant for the table are packed in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) or intelligent packaging. The atmosphere in MAP is different from ambient conditions and must be maintained to ensure that the fruits remain fresh and don’t lose their quality.