**Abstract**

Strawberry (*Fragaria × ananassa*) is a fruit of great acceptance worldwide but has characteristics that make it a highly perishable fruit, with shelf life of about a week, which makes it difficult to transport and store it to consumer places. Throughout the years, post-harvest techniques have been studied to extend their useful life and improve their properties. Strawberry deterioration may be due to various factors such as overripe, fungal involvement, moisture loss, mechanical damage, among others. Among the techniques which have been tried to slow the deterioration of the fruit are the use of modified atmospheres and treatments gases, use of edible coatings and smart packings, application of radiation of various types, use of chemical treatments among many others. In this chapter, we will examine the most relevant treatments applied to the strawberry to extend its useful life and improve its organoleptic quality that have been reported in the literature.

**Keywords:** modified atmosphere, radiation, quality, physiology, shelf life

### **1. Introduction**

Strawberry (*Fragaria × ananassa*) is considered a non-climacteric fruit [1] that is, it does not continue its maturation process after being cultivated. Coming from the *Rosaceae* family, it is cultivated in various countries around the world and consumed throughout the world due to its taste, smell and color. It is consumed fresh, dry, in preserves and culinary preparations, its transport can be carried out in fresh or in freezing, which can alter its organoleptic characteristics.

Being a non-climacteric fruit, it should be grown at its peak ripeness; however, this makes shorter lifespan compared to climacteric fruits, which can be matured along transportation. The high moisture content of the fruit and the characteristics of its skin make it susceptible to mechanical damage and the proliferation of fungi and other microorganisms that damage the fruit.

For the realization of this chapter, more than 100 scientific articles from different databases were searched using search parameters "strawberry" "postharvest" "shell life". As can be seen in **Figure 1**, most studies have focused on the use of treatments with gases and modified atmospheres to extend the useful life of the product while maintaining its quality parameters with about 21.3% of the total of studies

**Figure 1.** *Postharvest treatments used in strawberry.*

reviewed (violet zone). Second, the use of physical elicitors such as radiation, ultrasound, changes in pressure among others, to reduce the biological load on the surface of the fruits, activate defense mechanisms of plant tissue or the generation of compounds to maintain the shelf life of fruits, covering just under 15% of those surveyed items (blue zone).

Other technologies in postharvest have been applied in strawberry as thermal treatments, application of edible coatings, use of chemical solutions in fruits or the application of several technologies at the same time to generate synergistic responses in the product.

Each of the technologies studied has its advantages and disadvantages, as well as its application in various scenarios for the transport and storage of the product. The use of each one depends on the amount of fruit to be treated, as well as the cost of application, the need on the part of the producers and the demands on the part of the buyers.
