After harvest, fruits and vegetables continue to respire, and their metabolic activity continues, leading to a range of physiological changes. These changes include the breakdown of starch and sugars, the conversion of acids to sugars, changes in pigments, and the breakdown of cell walls, which can cause softening.

Postharvest storage initiates fruit senescence—the effects of which on biological processes are unavoidable and largely negative. Senescence leads to protein, lipid and nucleic acid degradation and cell dysfunction, disintegration and death