CHAPTER 5Environmental Effects on Product Quality
MONIKA SCHREINER
SUSANNE HUYSKENS-KEIL
ANGELIKA KRUMBEIN
ILONA SCHONHOF
MANFRED LINKEPRODUCT quality as determined by the ultimate consumer is affected
by both pre- and postharvest factors. The interaction between single pre-
and postharvest variables as they affect overall quality of vegetable prod-
ucts will be described using climatic and storage effects as an example.
The objective of the research described in this chapter was the devel-
opment of a basis for quality management for vegetable crops.
QUALITY DETERMINATION AND QUALITY EVALUATION
Due to surplus production of many horticultural products, competi-
tion has led to low prices and a demand for high quality. Therefore, in
the past few years quality evaluation and quality control of horticultural
products, associated with inspection and monitoring of product quality,
has become increasingly important. Strength of competition, when com-
bined with an increased demand for conservation of genetic resources
and greater health consciousness, has added to the complexity. This com-
plexity is associated with quality evaluation of fresh fruits and vegeta-
bles. Single product attributes do not sufficiently describe the overall
quality of a product. Product quality should be assessed by a combina-
tion of several characteristic product attributes (Huyskens-Keil, 1996).
Consequently, an integral quality value should be developed by sum-
marizing and weighing specific external and internal product attributes.
85