MATURITY & QUALITY
General Information
Fresh culinary herbs are variable in botanical origin and in their postharvest properties. This summary is useful for the following fresh herbs: basil, chervil, chives, cilantro, dill, epazote, mache, marjoram, mint, mitsuba, oregano, parsley, sage, shiso, tarragon and thyme.
Maturity Indices
Many culinary herbs are harvested as soft or semi-woody leafy stems (dill, oregano, tarragon, basil, mint), and the herb can also include immature or mature flowers. Some herbs are harvested as developing leaves (mache) or intact plants (cilantro, parsley).
Quality Indices
Quality characteristics are largely visual and include appearance of freshness, uniformity of size, form and color, and lack of defects (damaged or yellowed leaves, decay, insect damage, wilting). Characteristic aroma is essential for culinary herb quality, and generally essential oils and aroma decrease during storage.
TEMPERATURE & CONTROLED ATMOSPHERE (CA)
Optimum Temperature and Relative Humidity
For most herbs, storage at 0°C (32°F) with >95% RH is required to optimize quality and storage life. Expected shelf-life is 3 weeks at 0°C (32°F) and 2 weeks at 5°C (41°F). See table for specific data on different fresh herbs. Basil and shiso are chilling sensitive and should be stored above 10°C (50°F). Depending on water loss, a shelf-life of 1 to 2 weeks can be expected for basil and shiso. Herbs may be cooled by hydrocooling before packaging or room cooling after packaging. Some herbs such as cilantro and parsley are iced, and some herbs may be vacuum cooled. Because of the small quantities marketed, water loss can be a serious cause of quality loss, especially in the large-leaved herbs such as basil and cilantro.
Effect of temperature with high humidity on the visual quality of fresh culinary herbs stored for 10 days. Visual quality was scored on a 9 to 1 scale, where 9=excellent, 7=good, 5=fair, 3=poor, 1=unuseable. A “+” indicates sensitivity to ethylene when stored at 10°C (50°F).
Freezing Injury
Freeze damage in fresh herbs will appear as darkened translucent or water-soaked areas which will deteriorate rapidly after thawing. Freeze damage can occur on dill stored at -0.7°C (30.7°F), on chives at -0.9°C (30.4°F), and on parsley at -1.1°C (30.0°F).
Rates of Respiration
The respiration rates of fresh culinary herbs vary considerably, but values during the first five days from harvest are:
| Temperature | 0°C (32°F) | 10°C (50°F) | 20°C (68°F) |
| ml CO2/kg·hr | 6 – 20 (average for herbs listed = 13) | 25 – 80 (average for herbs listed = 47) | 52 – 300 (average for herbs listed = 118) |
To calculate heat production, multiply ml CO2 / kg·hr by 440 to get BTU/ton/day or by 122 to get kcal/metric ton-day.
Rates of Ethylene Production
Ethylene production rates vary among the fresh culinary herbs and are generally higher than rates for leafy green vegetable:
| Temperature | 0°C (32°F) | 10°C (50°F) | 20°C (68°F) |
| µL/kg·hr | 0.06 – 0.22 (average for herbs listed = 0.11) | 0.10 – 0.57 (average for herbs listed = 0.43) | 0.36 – 3.00 (average for herbs listed = 1.25) |
Responses to Ethylene
The main symptoms of ethylene exposure are yellowing, epinasty (stem curvature) and leaf abscission. Some herbs (marjoram, mint, parsley, organo) are very sensitive to ethylene exposure, while others (sage, thyme, basil, rosemary) are minimally affected or do not respond at all. As with other products, storage at low temperature reduces the detrimental effects of ethylene, (see table in Optimum Temperature and Relative Humidity.
Responses to Controlled Atmosphere (CA)
Some benefit to shelf-life can be obtained with low O2 (1-5%) and high CO2 (5-15%) atmospheres at moderate temperatures 5-10°C (41-50°F). Low O2 atmospheres will reduce respiration rates and reduce the detrimental effects of ethylene. High CO2 atmospheres maintain green color and reduce decay in many herbs (such as parsley and cilantro), but are not beneficial for basil.
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