In agriculture, post-harvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. The instant a crop is removed from the ground, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate. The way it is treated post-harvest largely determines the final quality, whether sold fresh consumption, or used as an ingredient in a processed food product.

The most important goals of post-harvest handling are keeping the product cool, to avoid moisture loss and slow down undesirable chemical changes, and avoiding physical damage such as bruising, to delay spoilage. Sanitation is also an important factor, to reduce the possibility of diseases that could be carried by fresh produce, for example, as residue from contaminated washing water.

After being brought in from the field, post-harvest processing is usually carried out in a packing house . This can be a simple shed, providing shade and running water, or a large-scale, sophisticated, mechanized facility, with conveyor belts, automated sorting and packing stations, and the like. In mechanized harvesting, processing may also begin as part of the actual harvest process, with initial cleaning and sorting performed by the harvesting machinery.

Initial post-harvest storage conditions are critical to maintaining quality. Each crop has an optimum range for temperature and humidity. Also, certain crops cannot be effectively stored together, as they cause unfavorable interactions.

Regardless of the scale of harvest, from home garden to industrialized farm, the basics of post-harvest handling for most crops are the same:

• cool immediately and maintain in cool conditions
• handle with care to avoid damage (cutting, crushing, bruising)
• cull (remove damaged items)

See also

• postharvest physiology