Climate change leading to postharvest losses in bread wheat

Abstract Postharvest losses in bread wheat may be quantitative and/or qualitative and occur at all stages of postharvest chain including storage, processing, and food preparation and consumption. A wheat grain storage system is an artificial ecosystem in which deterioration of the stored product results from the effects of abiotic and biotic factors as well as their interactions. The major abiotic factors include temperature and moisture/relative humidity, whereas insects and fungi belong to the biotic ones. This chapter summarizes the factors affecting postharvest life of wheat grains and analyzes the impact of climate change to postharvest losses of the product.