Fruit and Vegetable Quality

CHAPTER 8

Fruit and Vegetable Quality

ROBERT L. SHEWFELT

INTRODUCTION

THE commercial approach to food quality is undergoing both an evo-
lution and a revolution. Quality evaluation systems are evolving from a
perspective of Quality Control to Quality Assurance to Quality Man-
agement. These changes have necessitated revolutionary switches of em-
phasis from inspecting quality to improving processes that result in
enhanced quality. They also assume a shift from a product orientation
to a consumer orientation in defining quality. Rather than providing in-
tellectual leadership in a reshaping of thought on quality as it applies to
processed products, academic research in food science has generally re-
garded quality as a tool to evaluate other objectives (e.g., food process
development, food product development, new package assessment).
Thus, food quality is still generally defined by the investigator in terms
of clearly measurable characteristics rather than in terms of consumer
acceptability. Within a food process, tradeoffs frequently occur such that
quality can be optimized and not maximized. Thus, changes in quality
of a specific product undergoing a specific process are described in rel-
ative changes of specific characteristics (e.g., color, flavor or texture)
rather than a composite of these characteristics.
Some notable similarities and differences exist in the approach to
quality by postharvest physiologists and food scientists. Like the food
scientist, the postharvest physiologist views quality from a product ori-

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