Page 11 - Horticulture Practical Guide

PREFACE

For healthy living one needs strong immune system (defence system). To make this system strong
we have to take adequate quantity of minerals and vitamins which are available in natural form in fruits
and vegetables. India is one of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables in the world but
unfortunately per capita consumption of fruits is as low as 25 kg per annum as compared to 160 kg per
annum in advanced countries. The Post-Harvest losses are as high as 15-20% which are due to lack of
adequate facilities for harvesting, packing, transport, storage, marketing and processing. India
processes about 2% of its total production as compared to 72-80% in developed countries.
Our country is very fortunate that different kinds of fruits and vegetables are grown because of
diverse agro-climatic conditions but their production during certain parts of the year in different regions
is often so high that every year we have substantial seasonal surplus. Since these are highly perishable
commodities and cannot be stored for a long time in the fresh conditions, these get wasted in large
quantities due to absence of facilities and know-how for proper handling, distribution, marketing,
storage and processing. Also these are available at very low prices due to glut in the market during the
peak season. In order to reduce the post harvest losses and to increase the per capita consumption of
fruits and vegetables there is need for proper post harvest facilities including processing and
preservation to enhance their valuable utilization. The different preservation methods viz
pasteurization, sterilization, dehydration, freezing, fermentation, use of chemical preservatives, salt,
sugar, oil/spices, acetic acid etc. are employed for enhancing their storage life and value addition.

In this handbook, an attempt has been made to describe the standardized techniques with main
points to be taken in mind while making different processed, value added fruit and vegetable products
with longer storage life, in a lucid and easy manner to understand. We believe that this booklet shall be
very bene icial for the housewives and other interested persons for making the delicious and nutritious
value added products. There may be still some short comings in this hand book and the authors will be
really grateful to receive suggestions from readers for incorporation in the next edition. We greatfully
acknowledge the contribution of Sh. Uttam Lal, Manager-Cum-Chemist and Sh Nirjal Dass, Canning
Instructor (retired) of the Horticulture Department Jammu.

LOKESH K. BALI
JOINT DIRECTOR HORTICULTURE (Retd)

VIKAS ANAND
CHIEF CANNING & PROCESSING
INSTRUCTOR, JAMMU

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