Preharvest Sprays Affecting Shelf Life and Storage Potential of Fruits

Fruit quality at the time of harvest is very important for maximum postharvest storage and shelf life. Postharvest quality and storage life potential of fruits can be manipulated by certain preharvest applications. Preharvest foliar applications of different minerals, growth regulators, ethylene inhibitors, edible coatings, and natural antagonists have now become a common practice in order to enhance quality and storage potential of various fruit crops. Efficacy of preharvest sprays to increase storage life of fruits can vary among different species and/or even between various cultivars of the same fruit species. Preharvest foliar applications of some mineral elements have the potential to reduce physiological disorders of fruits; whereas, growth regulators have also shown good response for delaying the ripening process and improving the storage/shelf life of fruits. At the same time, inappropriate doses of some preharvest sprays can possibly adversely affect storage life and quality of fruits after harvest. Hence, it is essential to thoroughly standardize/optimize the most appropriate application time, protocols, and doses to get desired results. Most of the published literature described the effects of preharvest sprays on postharvest quality of fruits, but influence of preharvest sprays on shelf life, oxidative stress, antioxidant mechanisms, storage potential, decay incidence, and certain physiological disorders has been largely overlooked, and still requires intensive work in order to ensure the optimal quality of fruits reaching to the consumers. Hence, this chapter gives an overview of available literature on the effects of preharvest sprays on the shelf life and storage potential of various fruits.