Fruits and vegetables become glut in harvesting season due to high productivity and all cannot be consumed at that time. They cannot be stored because there is scarcity of storage facilities which results high wastage of their highly perishables nature.

On the other hand there is scarcity of fruits and vegetables in off season. If they are available, the market prize is very high and people can afford it and mostly common people are deprived of consuming fruits and vegetables. It is very essential to create facilities and preventive measures to reduce wastage and make more availability of fruits and vegetables to consumers. Other care must be taken after harvesting to prevent initial losses, because losses start immediately after harvesting. To reduce the losses and to make availability of fresh fruits and vegetable during off season, the best mean is the processing and preservation by using simple techniques.

There are many processing methods that can be used by small-scale handlers, including drying, fermenting, canning, freezing, preserving and juicing.

Sewa Lal Bhardwaj was born on 1st Feb. 1946 in a small farmer’s family of the small village name Darra, Tehsil-Chunar (earlier known as Chunar Garh) of District Mirzaprur, Uttar Pradesh, India. His schooling was from Madhav Vidya Mandir, Purusottampur upto 8th classes. Then he was admitted in 9th class in Central Hindu School and then in Central Hindu College, Kamakshya, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh, India. After completing his education in Central Hindu College, he was admitted in B.Sc. (Ag.) and then M.Sc. (Ag.) in Hort and Ph.D. (Hort) in the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. He completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Horticulture from the department. During study he was a recipient of I.C.A.R. Scholarship in B.Sc. (Ag.), National Loan Scholarship in M.Sc. (Ag.), Research Fellowship from the Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Research Fellowship of C.S.I.R. (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and Research Fellowship of U.G.C. (University Grant Commission), New Delhi during Ph.D. Degree. After completing Ph.D. Degree in the year 1974, he joined as a Post-Doctorate Fellow under the Auspices of University Grant Commission, New Delhi, India in the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Banaras Hindu University. In June 1975 he joined as Assistant Vegetable Botanist (Vegetable Seed Production) in the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, C.C.S. Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana), India. He has worked on various positions as Assistant Vegetable Botanist (Seed Production), Scientist and Sr. Scientist/Professor till January, 2006. In the mean time he was offered foreign assignment in Botswana from March 1988 to Feb. 1992 under Unified Teaching Service (UTS), Ministry of Education, Government of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana. After retirement in Feb. 2006, he joined as a Professor of Horticulture, Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture, Haramaya University, Ethiopia in October 2006. Again he got offer and joined as a Professor of Horticulture, Department of Horticulture and Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia in November 2009 and completed my assignment in July 2013. After completing this assignment in Ethiopia, he was offered to join as a Professor of Pomology in the Department of Horticulture, Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Hamelmalo, Keren, Eritrea in March 2014 and completed this assignment in July 2018. At present he is living with his children at Hisar, Haryana, India. Having a long journey in the field of Horticulture and research and teaching experience of different countries

1  Introduction, 2. Present Status of Fruits and  Vegetables Production, 3. Importance of Fruits and Vegetables in Human Nutrition, 4. Post-harvest Losses and Controls in Fruits and Vegetables, 5.  Processed Products from Fruits and Vegetables: Status and Scope, 6.    Food Spoilage: Causes, Effects and Prevention,7. Principles of Processing and Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables ,8. Processing and Preservation Methods of Fruits and Vegetables,9. Physical Methods of Processing and  Preservation, 10. Chemical Methods (Use of Preservatives) for Processing and Preservation,11. Preservation by Adding Sugar (Sugar Based Value Added Products), 12. Preservation with Fermentation Methods (Fermented Products), 13. Preservation with Salt, Oil, Vinegar and Chutney Pickle, 14. Preservation by Canning, 15.   Value Addition and Products Developed by Fruits and Vegetable, 16. Packaging and Packaging Materials, 17. Research Needs for Product Development of Fruits and Vegetables