Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
37
quality losses due to contamination with foreign matter. The recommended moisture
content prior to storage for major pulses are as follows:
Peas = 16%
Green lentils = 14%
Chickpeas = 14%
Beans = 14%
Soybeans = 14%
 Where the crop is taken into storage at the moisture levels indicated above, the shelf life can
range between 31 to 55 weeks if stored under cool and dry conditions with temperatures
around 26o C. Appropriate ventilation is necessary to minimise the risk of quality deterioration
during storage. Fumigation may also be necessary to minimise losses due to pest damage.
2.2.4. Fruits and Vegetables
Introduction
This section looks at postharvest losses and research in 13 fruit and vegetable product groups,
for the 57 OIC Member Countries. The fruit commodities investigated are: bananas; dates; fruit,
fresh nes; grapes; mangoes, mangosteens and guavas; watermelons and the vegetables
covered are: beans (green); cucumbers and gherkins; onion, dry; tomatoes and vegetables,
fresh nes. Issues relating to postharvest losses of tomatoes predominate (Table 10).
Table 10: Summary table for fruit and vegetables
Crop OIC Member Countries
Bananas Comoros, Indonesia, Maldives, Mozambique, Suriname
Beans, green Guyana
Cucumbers and
gherkins
Oman
Dates Bahrain, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
Fruit, fresh nes Somalia
Grapes Afghanistan
Mangoes,
mangosteens,
guavas
Palestine, Occupied Tr., Yemen
Onions, dry Niger, Senegal, Sudan
Pineapples Benin
Plantains Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Uganda
Tomatoes Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Iran
(Islamic Rep. of), Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Syrian
Arab Republic, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Vegetables, fresh
nes
Sierra Leone
Watermelons Albania, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mali, Tajikistan
Source: OIC