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Fruits and vegetables with longer shelf-life for extended availability in the
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Chapter · January 2011

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 Fruits and vegetables with longer shelf-life for extended availability in the
markets

Anshuman Singh and Dr. A.K. Singh

Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology, IARI, New Delhi-110012

Introduction: India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the
world, next only to China. Presently, the annual production of these two commodities
is estimated at approximately 197 million tonnes. Despite the remarkable progress
made in increasing fruit and vegetable production in India, approximately 30-40
percent of the fresh produce goes waste. There are many reasons for this, one of
which is losses occurring in the post-harvest and marketing system. Both quantitative
and qualitative losses of extremely variable magnitude occur at all stages in the post-
harvest system from harvesting, through handling, storage, processing and marketing
to final delivery to the consumer.

One of the major factors attributed to huge post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables
is poor shelf-life and perishable nature of these commodities. This scenario exists in
most of the Third World countries and India is no exception in this regard. As a result,
we are not only losing precious revenue but also compromising with the health of our
vast population because fruits and vegetables are reservoirs of vital nutrients,
vitamins, minerals and nutraceuticals, and are considered ‘protective foods’ as they
protect our body from diseases. As poor shelf-life is a major culprit behind the huge
post-harvest losses, extending the shelf –life for ensuring food and nutritional security
assumes a great significance at present time.

Factors influencing shelf-life: The Institute of Food Science and Technology

guidelines of 1993 define shelf-life as the time period during which the food product
will remain safe, be certain to retain desired sensory, chemical, physical and
microbiological characteristics, and comply with any label declaration of nutritional
data when stored under recommended conditions.

All fruits and vegetables are living plant parts containing 65 to 95 percent water, and
they continue their living processes after harvest. Their post-harvest life depends on
the rate at which they use up their stored food reserves and their rate of water loss.
When food and water reserves are exhausted, the produce dies and decays. Anything
that increases the rate of this process may make the produce inedible before it can be
used.

Many factors affect shelf-life, ranging from pre and post harvest environment to the
genetic makeup of the concerned variety/ crop species and the physiology of
harvested produce. These factors can be divided into two broad categories, viz.,
intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are the properties of the final produce
and seem to be affected by the genetic makeup of crop and the cultural practices
followed. They include: water activity, ph value and total acidity, redox potential,
available oxygen, nutrients, natural microflora and surviving microbial counts.
Extrinsic factors, on the other hand, are those which the final produce encounters as it
moves through the food chain. They include the factors like temperature, relative
humidity and light control during processing, storage and distribution, composition of

Correct citation: Singh, Anshuman and Singh, A. K. (2011). Fruits and vegetables with longer shelf-life for extended
availability in the markets. In: Horti-business. Published by Delhi Agri-Horticultural Society, India. p. 131-135.
atmosphere within packaging and consumer handling. All these factors can operate in
an interactive and often unpredictable way and the probability of interaction must be
investigated.

Measurement of shelf-life: Knowledge of the likely shelf-life of such perishable

products as fruits and vegetables is of utmost importance to those who manage the
fresh produce chain from the grower to the retailer and finally consumer. The
commercial measurement of shelf-life of fresh produce is generally carried out by the
quality control staff of retail supply companies. Where produce is retailed in chilled
cabinet, shelf-life may be tested in the refrigerator at the appropriate temperature, e.g.,
at 70C in table grapes. In other cases, accelerated shelf-life tests may be carried out at
higher temperatures to reveal the likely development of pathogenic rots. The produce
will be assessed for quality changes over a period of time. Shelf-life tests are carried
out to forewarn of potential quality problem and will enable action to be taken
promptly to identify and limit the problem. At present, accurate prediction of shelf-
life is not really feasible for fresh produce. Predictive models for estimating the shelf-
life, based on both internal and external factors, need to be standardized.

Measures to improve the shelf-life: Fruits and vegetables are unique among the food
products in that they remain as the living tissues up to the moment they are consumed,
cooked or otherwise processed. Continuity in respiration is quite profound for the
shelf-life and storage stability of these products. Also, the prediction and management
of shelf-life of fruits and vegetables is further complexed by their specific genetic
behaviour, stage of development and pre- and post harvest conditions it has
experienced. There are a range of points in food chain where crop growers can
influence the factors which affect the shelf-life of produce. These can be divided into
crop improvement, and appropriate pre- and post harvest management.

Breeding for longer shelf-life: Developing fruit and vegetable varieties with
improved shelf-life so as to maintain the freshness and quality for a longer period has
been a long cherished dream of horticulturists worldwide. An extension in shelf-life
would enable the commodities to withstand the rigours of harvesting, transportation
and storage, thus providing consumers with quality produce. However, the success in
achieving this target has been meagre and only a few fruit and vegetable varieties with
improved shelf-life are available. Different breeding methods recommended for
improving shelf-life include domestication, plant introduction, selection,
hybridization, mutation and polyploidy breeding. The achievements made so for are
briefly reviewed in the following paragraphs.

Domestication involves bringing out the wild plant species under human
management. It is observed that domestication of fruits involves a combination of
genetic events including an increase in storage and shelf life as compared to their wild
counterparts. Plant introduction intends to widen the genetic base of a plant species
and could prove beneficial giving rise to novel and potential genotypes which may be
directly released into cultivation. Apple variety Jonathan, Early Grande peach,
Kinnow mandarin, Solo papaya and tomato varieties Roma and Labonita provide
good examples in this regard as they all have better shelf-life.

Many commercial varieties of fruits in India have evolved as chance seedlings. A

chance seedling is the name given to a fruit cultivar discovered by chance without any
sustained breeding efforts. In fact, chance seedlings are the superior naturally
occurring variants in a plant population. The screening of open-pollinated, chance
seedlings could result in thousands of selections, many of which may prove to be
outstanding cultivars. Mango varieties Alphonso, Banganpalli, and Dashehari, Ambri
apple and guava varieties Apple Colour and Harijha, which originated as chance
seedlings, are appreciated for their higher shelf-life.

Selection is basic to fruit and vegetable breeding and the achievements made in fruits
and vegetables for longer shelf life is presented in Table 1. Similarly, development of
hybrids may also accomplish the attempt to evolve varieties with improved shelf life.
Hybrid fruit and vegetable varieties with longer shelf life are given in Table 2.

Table 1: Selections made in fruits and vegetables with improved shelf life
Crop Variety Parentage
Mango Pusa Surya Eldon
Papaya Pusa Majesty Ranchi
Peach TA 170 Flordasun
Guava IIHR Sel-8 (Arka Mridula) Allahabad Safeda
Bittergourd Konkan Tara Local germplasm
Bottlegourd Samrat Local germplasm
Wintersquash Arka Suryamukhi Local germplasm
Onion RO 59 --------------
Muskmelon Arka Rajhans Rajasthan collection
Pumpkin Arka Chandan IIHR 105

Table 2: Fruit and vegetable hybrids with higher shelf life

Crop Variety Parentage
Mango Pusa Arunima Amrapali x Sensetion
Guava Hybrid16-1 Apple Colour X Allahabad Safeda
Custard Apple Arka Sahan Island Gem X Mammoth
Papaya Surya Sunrise Solo X Pink Flesh Sweet
Persimmon Kanshu 'Shinshu' x 18-4
Onion Arka Niketan --------------
Tomato Dongnong 711 97-208 x 94-125
Arka Manik IIHR 21 X Crimson Sweet
Watermelon
Himeshizuka KWMP-1 X KWMP-2

Punjab Hybrid MS 1 X Hara Madhu

Muskmelon
Pusa Sharbati Kutana X RN 6
Polyploidy is important in conferring desirable characteristics in some crops. Sunny
Rouge, a new early-ripening and tetraploid grape (Vitis labruscana x V. vinifera) was
obtained by crossing Pione x Red Pearl. It has tolerance to major pre- and post harvest
diseases, and exhibits good shelf-life. Dark Ridge, a new tetraploid grape (Vitis
labruscana x V. vinifera) cultivar was obtained from the cross between Kyoho
(cultivar whose table grape production ranks first in Japan) and 301-1 (Kyoho x
Niabell). Dark Ridge fruits rarely crack, with good keeping quality.

Spontaneous and induced mutations may result in new genotypes with considerably
higher shelf–life. Also, mutations provide a valuable source of variation in plant
material from which the breeder can make selection. Mutants with increased sugar
content and extended shelf-life have been reported in pear. The use of in vitro
methodologies, the exploitation of somaclonal variation, and the setting up of early
selection methods could make induced mutation techniques more reliable. Castel Gala
is a low chilling apple mutant with very early fruit ripening. Although their fruits ripe
much earlier than those of Gala, fruits of both cultivars have similar storage and shelf
life capacity. These characteristics, in addition to the low chilling requirement, make
Castel Gala a good option for fruit growers in Brazil.

Some authors have noted extended shelf-life in tomato by introgression of the rin
gene and suggested that future research should attempt to reduce deleterious effects
on flavour and colour components of ripening. The use of rin homologues to control
shelf-life has promise in other species, including non-climacteric varieties, but
flavour, colour and nutritional content should not be compromised.

Biotechnological approaches: With the advent of various biotechnology-based

techniques like somaclonal variation, antisense RNA technology and genetic
transformation, a ray of hope is being seen in developing superior fruit and vegetable
varieties with considerably longer shelf life. Various plant traits which need to be
genetically modified for higher shelf life include lowered respiration and ethylene
production, less sensitivity to ethylene, slower ripening rates, reduced browning,
decreased chilling sensitivity and increased postharvest disease resistance. The
importance of understanding the biochemical process of softening and the use of such
information in for retarding the ripening process has been demonstrated. Modification
of fruit ripening by suppressing expression of specific enzymes has been extensively
studied and demonstrated in tomatoes.

Delay in ripening extends the shelf life and keeping quality of fruits and vegetables
enabling their long distance shipping with minimum damage. In tomato, plants have
been engineered for reduced synthesis of polygalacturonase which is responsible for
softening the cell wall. Using the antisense technology, antisense RNA for
polygalacturonase has been inserted. When normal pGU mRNA is synthesized the
antisense RNA binds to it and prevents synthesis of pGU. Antisense RNA against
ACC synthase was also expressed in tomato plants and this inhibited ethylene
biosynthesis by about 99.5% and markedly delayed fruit ripening. Expression of ACC
synthase and ACC oxidase genes encoding the key enzymes required for ethylene
biosynthesis can be specifically inhibited to constant ethylene production in ripening
fruits. Expression of antisense RNA derived from the cDNA of LE-ACC2 gene
resulted in almost complete inhibition of mRNA accumulation of both the ripening
induced ACC synthase genes and the ethylene production in such transgenic fruits
was severely reduced to very low levels. Unfortunately, transgenic tomatoes could not
 be commercialised owing to some obstacles. Fruits of Flavr Savr still softened and
Endless Summer gone out of market due to IPR disputes. Further there was a need to
maintain separation from non-transgenic tomatoes, harvested fruits required exposure
to exogenous ethylene to ripen the fruit. And at the same time these transgenics could
not compete with the hybrid tomatoes having similar quality characteristics.

Extension of storage life has been one of the top priorities in improving the ‘Eksotika’
papaya, ever since it had made an impact in the export industry. Biotechnology has
been used since 1996 to delay fruit ripening as well as delay fruit softening, using the
antisense ACC-oxidase and the β-galactosidase genes respectively. Several
genetically modified lines have been developed and currently evaluated under
contained trials. In Australia, transgenic work in pineapples has resulted in control of
ethylene production and development of pineapples not susceptible to the postharvest
disorder blackheart. In Brazil, transgenic passionfruit are being developed with an
antisense construct to the ACC oxidase gene. Some other alternative strategies
employed for delayed fruit ripening through reduction in ethylene biosynthesis
include degradation of ACC by the bacterial enzyme, ACC deaminase and the
formation of a conjugated derivatives of ACC malonyl ACC by the enzyme ACC N-
malonyl transferase. Somaclonal variants are essentially variants generated by plant
tissue culture. Such variants could prove outstanding with some desirable horticultural
traits. Potential crops include banana, potato, Solanaceous and Brassicaseous
vegetables. White Baron potato is a somaclonal variant of Japanese variety Irish
Cobbler with non-browning characteristics after peeling.

Conclusion: After reviewing the developments made in extending the shelf-life of

fruits and vegetables, it becomes evident that although success in this field has been
inadequate, there are possibilities that fruit and vegetable breeders will succeed in
near future in evolving superior cultivars with longer shelf-life. With the availabilty of
potential biotechnological tools in hand, conventional fruit and vegetable breeding is
expected to take full advantage of these tools in obtaining desired results like
improving the shelf-life.

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