317 Post Harvest Quality of Tropical Organic Fruit in Ogun State Nigeria P.J.C. Harris, O. Oke and T.I. Olabiyi I.O.O. Aiyelaagbe Faculty of Business, Environment and Society Coventry University Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB UK Department of Horticulture University of Agriculture PMB 2240 Abeokuta 11000 Nigeria Keywords: Nigeria, organic fruit, post harvest quality Abstract Between January and September 2006, a study was conducted in Ogun State south-western Nigeria to document the post harvest handling of non-certified organic fruit. A second phase of the study documented the quality and characteristics of organic tropical fruit after arrival in the UK by interviewing importers, retailers and consumers. Although the fruit monitored in the UK was not from Nigeria, the two phases together gave a good indication of the post harvest qualities of tropical organic fruit from farmer to UK consumer. The major fruits traded in Nigeria were orange, banana, mango, pineapple, papaya, guava and avocado. Major operational constraints listed by farmers and fruit vendors included pest and disease infection from the field and in transit, poor market access and mechanical damage during harvesting and bulking. In contrast, the international transport of organic fruits, transport within the UK, storage and display by retailers and shelf life in consumers’ homes were all satisfactory with no major differences found between organic and conventional fruit. Thus, the weak link in the post harvest chain from farmer to consumer occurs in the producing country. This suggests that a required critical intervention to allow Nigerian farmers access to the UK organic fruit market is investment in post harvest handling. INTRODUCTION Fruit crops grown in Nigeria include adapted exotics such as citrus (Citrus spp.), mango (Mangifera indica), avocado (Persea americana), papaya (Carica papaya), pineapple (Ananas comosus) and cashew (Anacardium occidentale), as well as indigenous fruit such as bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis), African star apple (Chysophyllum albidum), African walnut (Tetracarpidium conophorum) and plantain (Musa AAB). Fruit crops are grown as intercrops in food crop plots, tree crop plantations and home gardens and in small scale monocropped plantations. In the traditional cropping systems, fruit crops rarely receive synthetic agrochemicals (growth regulators, fertilizers and pesticides). However, at present, organic fruit production is at an early stage of development in Nigeria and none is certified to international organic standards. Tropical fruits are widely sought in the international market (McEvoy, 2003) and Nigerian fruit farmers may increase incomes if they could access the organic fruit market. The post harvest handling of fruit is a critical stage in ensuring the quality of the product to the consumer (Kader and Rolle, 2004), but to date, there has been no documentation on the post harvest handling systems of non-certified organic fruits in Nigeria. This work was undertaken as part of a larger study investigating the potential for organic exports from Nigeria, and considered whether current post harvest practices employed in traditional farming systems in Nigeria are suitable for the production and transport of organic fruit for export. Ogun State was selected owing to its fairly well developed fruit growing industry and proximity to Lagos and the major air and sea ports. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between January and September 2006, structured questionnaires were administered to 10 fruit growers in each of the four geopolitical zones of Ogun State, Proc. Organic Fruit Conference Eds.: R.K. Prange and S.D. Bishop Acta Hort. 873, ISHS 2010