![]() ![]() ![]() Several abiotic and biotic factors adversely affect the productivity and quality of vegetables. Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fibre, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C. Examples of vegetables are lettuce (leaves and stems), beetroot (tubers), cabbage (leaves), carrot (tubers), and parsnip (tubers). These edible plant parts contain seeds and are therefore considered fruits. There are certain instances when fruits are referred to as vegetables, such as tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, eggplants, bitter gourds, etc. The term vegetable pertains specifically to plant parts that are edible such as leaves, roots, stems, flowers, etc. However, once a plant/plant part shows symptoms of nutrient deficiency it is likely that that season’s yields and quality will be affected adversely. ![]() Whilst the symptoms of physiological disorders may appear disease-like, they can usually be prevented by altering environmental conditions. Thus, physiological disorder may be defined as the abnormal growth pattern or abnormal external or internal conditions of fruits caused by adverse environmental conditions (such as deviation from normal state of temperature, light, moisture, nutrient, harmful gases and inadequate supply of growth regulators) during growth in fields or orchards or during harvest, storage, and marketing. The action of environmental factors that are outside the optimum ranges leads to the deterioration of physiological process during the pre- and post-harvest periods, which, in its turn, leads to the incidence of physiological disorders (Burzo, 2001). whereas abiotic aspects of deterioration consist of environment, nutrition and growth regulators. Biotic issues include insects, pests, etc. Yield reduction and/or quality deterioration of fruits and vegetables occurred primarily because of biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore, in order to get the maximum benefit from fruits/vegetables one should produce the healthy fruits and follow appropriate post-harvest practices so that fruits can be available for a longer period of time with optimum quality. Various pre- and post-harvest disorders and diseases not only reduce the marketable yield and quality of fruits but may also become endangered to human health. The health promoting and disease curing properties of fruits depend on environmental conditions in which the particular fruit is grown and the post-harvest management practices adopted (Arpaia et al., 2004 De Costa, 2010). Apart from that, they also help in curing a number of diseases. The reason for this is that they are rich in nutrients and provide some of the essential minerals, vitamins, and the like, to our body. Fruits, whether fresh or dried, have always formed a part of the staple diet of human beings. In many religions, fruits have been given the status of the ‘food of Gods’. In fact, they have been in existence since the inception of mankind (even Adam and Eve ate apple - the ‘forbidden fruit’!). Fruits have been a part of the human diet since the beginning of humanity and there is strong evidence that our ancestors were primarily frugivorous (fruit-eaters). ![]()
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