3. Preharvest factors
3 . 1 . Climatic conditions
Climatic conditions including light and average temperature have a strong influence on the chemi- cal composition of horticultural crops (Klein and Perry, 1982). Although light is not essential for the synthesis of AA in plants, the amount and intensity of light during the growing season have a definite influence on the amount of AA formed. AA is synthesized from sugars supplied through photosynthesis in plants. Outside fruit exposed to maximum sunlight contain higher amount of vita- min C than inside and shaded fruit on the same plant. In general, the lower the light intensity