Temperature management is the most impor-tant tool to extend shelf-life and maintain quality
of fresh fruits and vegetables. Delays between
harvesting and cooling or processing can result in
direct losses due to water loss and decay and
indirect losses such as those in flavor and nutri-tional quality. Kader and Morris (1978) found
that delays of 24 h at 30 and 40°C between
harvest and processing of tomatoes result in
about a 5 and 12% loss in AA, respectively.
Zepplin and Elvehjein (1944) found that leafy
vegetables held at 6°C lost 10% of their AA
content in 6 days while those held at room tem-perature lost 20% in only 2 days. Losses in vita-min C in kale were accelerated at higher
temperatures (Table 5). Similar results were ob-tained with spinach, cabbage, and snap beans
(Ezell and Wilcox, 1959). All citrus fruits lost
vitamin C if stored at high temperatures. The
range of temperatures and the extent of vitamin C
loss depended on the type of citrus fruit. In
general the extent of loss in AA content in re-sponse to elevated temperatures was greater in