**1. Introduction**

Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and have a very short shelf-life. During different handling and marketing operations, there is a huge postharvest loss of agricultural produce. Both qualitative and quantitative losses occur in horticultural commodities between harvest and consumption. Qualitative losses like loss inedibility, nutritional quality, calorific value, and consumer acceptability of fresh produce are much more difficult to assess than are quantitative losses [1]. Quantitative post-harvest losses in India estimated by different committees ranged between 25 and 33% depending upon the crop. The major cause of postharvest loss is the lack of proper infrastructure for processing and packing. These losses can only be minimized to some extent by proper marketing, handling, and processing of agricultural commodities. According to a national level study conducted under the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Postharvest technology of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) the post-harvest losses during different farm handling operations like harvesting, sorting, grading, and packing accounts for about 13%, during farm storage about 6% and during storage at going down, wholesale and retail level about 12% of the produce goes waste. Thus, on average, about one-third of horticulture produce never reaches the ultimate consumer. This results in a considerable gap between gross food production and net availability [2]. Insufficient knowledge of pre and post-harvest operations and lack of proper facilities for handling like pre-cooling, grading, packaging, transport,

storage, processing, and marketing all together compound the post-harvest losses and wastage which in value terms accounts for more than 6,720,000.00 US dollars.

Keeping the huge postharvest losses in mind, there is an urgent need to reduce the postharvest losses of fresh commodities and increase the level of processing as a reduction in post-harvest losses is a complementary means of production [3]. The important strategies for loss prevention include the development of varieties (genotypes) that have longer postharvest life, use of integrated crop management system, and development of cost-effective adaptable technologies for post-harvest handling, value addition, and by-product waste utilization [4]. The value chain in post-harvest management of horticultural crops mainly comprises pre-harvest factors, harvesting, market preparation (pre-cooling, sorting, grading, packaging, and on-farm storage), transportation, storage, value addition, and by-product waste management. The status of R&D carried out pertaining to postharvest management (PHM) and processing in the country by different ICAR institutes like Central Institute of Post Harvest Technology (CIPHET) (Ludhiana) and State Agricultural University (SAUs) on different aspects of post-harvest management and processing of horticultural crops is given ahead. Depending upon the status report, research scientists can find out the gap/missing links in the available technology to suggest future priorities in the area of R&D.

Maturity is the state where the product is ready for picking. Proper identification of maturity of produce is essential so that the product is less prone to various physiological disorders and diseases [5]. Maturity indices have been developed for various fruits such as mango, pomegranate, apple, grapes, ber, aonla, Nagpur mandarin, etc. Technique to determine the maturity of mango on the tree (CIPHET) and non-destructive method for the maturity of Grand Naine banana (NRCB, Trichur) need to be popularized.

In recent years, rapid industrialization, population growth, and changed lifestyle led to increased demand for processed and packed foods. Currently, ready to eat packed food industry is growing very fast. Packaging is considered as the science, art, and technology of protecting the products during transportation, distribution, storage, sale, and use. Further, the packaging ensures safe and efficient delivery of the commodity to the consumer in good condition. Good packaging attracts the customer to buy the product. It also plays a vital role in reducing the security risks during shipment. Packaged products are easy in displaying, handling, storing, distributing, opening, reclosing, and reusing. Packaging performs four important functions, such as containment, protection, convenience, and communication. A wide variety of materials, such as cane baskets, wooden boxes, clay vessels, metal cans, China pots, paper bags, and plastics containers are still used for packaging the products in many areas of the world. The packaging material should not cause any environmental pollution. Hence, there is a need to undertake detailed studies to assess the impact of food packaging on the environment.

In this context, Paine and Paine [6] concluded that packaging contains, protects, and preserves as well as informs to create convenience to consumers. It is stated that many companies apply packaging to create values beyond the basic components of containing, protecting, preserving, and informing [7]. Recent progress in food packaging is resulting from the rising need for mild processed but with better shelflife food products by the consumers. An important reason for innovative packaging is the emergence of food-borne microbial outbreaks that demand packaging with anti-microbial products to ascertain quality and safety. No hazardous components must touch the food within the packaging, and the flavor of the food should not get affected. The food must not change its original appearance and taste. In addition, the food should not cause any discoloring in the packaging. It is pertinent to mention that high-quality films serve to protect a product during transportation,

*Advances in Postharvest Packaging Systems of Fruits and Vegetable DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101124*

distribution, and use. It seems that the public health impact of unhygienic packaging of food is not well studied. The new food packaging techniques, such as intelligent packaging, bio-active packaging, and active packaging, which engage deliberate contact with the food or its surroundings and influence on consumer's health have been the most important innovations in the field of packaging technology [8]. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to present an overview of the innovations in food packaging technology.
