QUALITY OF VEGETABLES DURING DISTRIBUTION

1. Leafy products grown for the purpose of consumption of their vegetative organs (leaf, stem) such as lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, chinese leaves, rhubarbs.
2. Root crops where the edible portion develops partly or entirely underground and includes bulbs, roots, tubes etc. Common in Sweden are onions, carrots, radishes, rutabagas etc.
3. Vegetables grown because of their edible fruits and seeds such as tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, peas and beans.

As many other experts have pointed out before (eg SeeNilsson 1980), good quality is founded upon what has happened to the product during growing and the immediate post harvest treatment. In this paper I will try to elaborate on what can be done and is done later on to keep the quality up. Most of the material is based upon empirical material from Sweden's leading company in imports and wholesale of fresh produce.

In a recent consumer investigation (SIFO) three basic questions were asked about quality of foodstuffs:

a) what do you mean by quality of foodstuffs?

The spontaneous replies were the following:

Newly harvested and fresh	62 %
Good ingredients (contents)	26 %
No chemical residues	13 %
Good keepability/datestamped	13 %

b) which three most important quality dimensions of foodstuffs do you appreciate highest?

The replies were:

Freshness	75 %
Contents	62 %
Taste	38 %

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