Abstract:Fresh fruits and vegetables in the supply chain continuously consume organic matter (sugar and starch) due to respiration, transpiration, and ethylene release, leading to their quality deterioration. Throughout the supply chain, the physiological and biochemical changes in fresh fruits and vegetables are influenced by intrinsic factors (species and varieties, origin and harvest period, maturity or developmental age) and environmental factors (temperature, humidity, O 2 and CO2 concentration, ethylene concentration, extrusion, impact, vibration, and etc.). Currently, numerous post-harvest technologies are applied in the supply chain to reduce the quality deterioration of fresh fruits and vegetables, thereby enhancing their market competitiveness with the highest quality retention rate. This review briefly introduces the mechanisms of quality deterioration (mold, wilting, browning, softening, yellowing, and etc.) of fresh fruits and vegetables within the supply chain, the factors affecting the quality deterioration of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as the mitigation of the quality deterioration of fresh fruits and vegetables through the adoption of common control technologies. Furthermore, the latest research progress of intelligent labels in freshness detection of fresh fruits and vegetables are reviewed.
