Contents: Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgements. Epilogue. Resource personnel. 1. Post harvest technology of perishables. 2. Role of vegetables in Indian economy and employment generation. 3. Post harvest considerations for temperate vegetables. 4. Establishment of vegetable processing plant. 5. Preservation methods of vegetables. 6. Canning of vegetables. 7. Freezing of vegetables. 8. Drying and dehydration of vegetables. 9. Effect of processing and cooking on vegetables. 10. Maturity assessment, harvesting techniques and diseases. 11. Low cost cool chambers and polyhouses. 12. Post harvest management and food security. 13. Total quality management. 14. Breeding vegetables for shelflife, stability and nutrition. 15. Post harvest handling systems. 16. Development of IMF foods. 17. Biotechnological advances in vegetables. 18. Organic foods and vegetables. 19. Antinutritional factors and toxic constituents in vegetables. 20. Importance of vegetables in emergencies. 21. Extension strategies for promotion of vegetable production. 22. Unconventional vegetables. 23. WTO - a bane or Boon for India. 24. Patents and intellectual property rights. 25. Sources of information related to post harvest technology of vegetables. 26. Codex alimentarius. 27. Glossary. Subject index.

"With high volumes of vegetable production, potential of going in for off-season vegetables, accepting non-conventional vegetables, focus on increasing the processing from its mere two per cent share to higher proportion, value addition, use of biotechnological tools and emerging trends in the post WTO regimes -- the Indian food industry has an urgent need for diversification and adaptation. The key focus of research and development aims at offering extensive knowledge base and technical services for innovative market sector. From post-harvest practices and processing to recipe development, packaging, consumer satisfaction, market assessment, storage, transport and distribution optimization, the publications like the present one can provide some support, particularly in the areas of:

Building cost effective food control systems.
Improving procurement processes.
Assuring remunerative prices to growers.
Introducing in-field operations like precooling.
Minimizing pre-and post-harvest losses.
Improving operational efficiency.
Improving storage, transportation and marketing through adoption of 'consortium' concept.
Improving business performance.
Improving nutritional status of masses particularly of vulnerable groups like children and women.

The book will be an essential reference hopefully, to all those concerned with the vegetable production, processing, marketing and nutrition of human beings." (jacket)