Abstract
Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) are becoming an important fruit crop in India, valued for their flavor, nutrition, and market potential. Yet, because they are soft and highly perishable, a large share of the harvest is lost before reaching consumers. This review explores the main causes of post-harvest losses and highlights both research insights and practical solutions that can reduce waste. The focus is on critical stages such as harvesting, field handling, pre-cooling, packaging, storage, and transport. Studies show that picking fruit at the right stage of ripeness, removing field heat quickly, and storing fruit at near 0°C can slow down spoilage and extend shelf life. Modern techniques like modified atmosphere packaging, biodegradable films, edible coatings, and safe treatments using natural or physical methods also show promise in preserving quality. For farmers, simple practices—such as careful handling, proper grading, and using affordable on-farm coolers—can make a big difference. Building stronger cold chain systems, including cooperative storage hubs and reliable refrigerated transport, is equally important for wider impact. The findings suggest that the best results come from combining scientific advances with farmer-friendly practices. This integrated approach can lower post-harvest losses, improve farmer incomes, and deliver fresher, better-quality strawberries to consumers, while supporting sustainability and reducing food waste.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Harvesting strawberries at suitable ripeness can slow spoilage and extend shelf life.
- Taxon
- Strawberries
_single2.jpg?width=60)
Fragaria ×ananassae1 - Treatment
- picking fruit at the right stage of ripenesse0
- Outcome
- spoilage and extend shelf lifee0
- Direction
- slow downe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_single2.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“picking fruit at the right stage of ripeness, removing field heat quickly, and storing fruit at near 0°C can slow down spoilage and extend shelf life”
e1“Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Rapidly removing strawberry field heat can slow spoilage and extend shelf life.
- Taxon
- StrawberriesFragaria ×ananassae1
- Treatment
- removing field heat quicklye0
- Outcome
- spoilage and extend shelf lifee0
- Direction
- slow downe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“picking fruit at the right stage of ripeness, removing field heat quickly, and storing fruit at near 0°C can slow down spoilage and extend shelf life”
e1“Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Storing strawberries near 0°C can slow spoilage and extend shelf life.
- Taxon
- StrawberriesFragaria ×ananassae1
- Treatment
- storing fruit at near 0°Ce0
- Outcome
- spoilage and extend shelf lifee0
- Direction
- slow downe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“picking fruit at the right stage of ripeness, removing field heat quickly, and storing fruit at near 0°C can slow down spoilage and extend shelf life”
e1“Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Modified atmosphere packaging, biodegradable films and edible coatings show promise for preserving strawberry quality.
- Taxon
- StrawberriesFragaria ×ananassae1
- Treatment
- modified atmosphere packaging, biodegradable films, edible coatingse0
- Outcome
- preserving qualitye0
- Direction
- show promisee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“modified atmosphere packaging, biodegradable films, edible coatings, and safe treatments using natural or physical methods also show promise in preserving quality”
e1“Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Natural or physical treatments show promise for preserving strawberry quality.
- Taxon
- StrawberriesFragaria ×ananassae1
- Treatment
- safe treatments using natural or physical methodse0
- Outcome
- preserving qualitye0
- Direction
- show promisee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“safe treatments using natural or physical methods also show promise in preserving quality”
e1“Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend careful handling, grading and affordable on-farm coolers for strawberry farmers.
- Taxon
- StrawberriesFragaria ×ananassae1
- Outcome
- careful handling, proper grading, and using affordable on-farm coolerse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“For farmers, simple practices—such as careful handling, proper grading, and using affordable on-farm coolers—can make a big difference.”
e1“Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend cooperative storage hubs and refrigerated transport to strengthen strawberry cold chains.
- Taxon
- StrawberriesFragaria ×ananassae1
- Outcome
- Building stronger cold chain systems, including cooperative storage hubs and reliable refrigerated transporte0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Building stronger cold chain systems, including cooperative storage hubs and reliable refrigerated transport, is equally important for wider impact.”
e1“Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The review concludes that combining scientific advances with farmer-friendly practices can lower strawberry losses and improve quality.
- Taxon
- strawberriesFragaria ×ananassae0
- Treatment
- combining scientific advances with farmer-friendly practicese1
- Outcome
- lower post-harvest lossese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This integrated approach can lower post-harvest losses, improve farmer incomes, and deliver fresher, better-quality strawberries to consumers”
e1“combining scientific advances with farmer-friendly practices”