APPENDIX

Table A1. General and specific food categories of fruits, vegetables and herbs (adapted from EFSA 2013)

General food category	Specific food categories	Examples of commodities
1. Fruit (non-specified)
Soft fruits	2. Strawberries
	3. Raspberries
	4. Other berries	Blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, cloudberry, cranberry, lingonberry, red currant, red and green grape
5. Citrus fruit		Grapefruit, lemon, lime, mandarin, orange, tangerine
6. Apples and related fruit		Apple, hawthorn, pear, quince
7. Stone fruit		Apricot, Asian plum, cherry, European plum, nectarine, peach
8. Tropical fruit		Avocado, coconut, date, dragon fruit, guava, fig, jackfruit, kiwifruit, lychee, mango, mangosteen, passion fruit, papaya, persimmon, pineapple, pomegranate, rambutan, star apple, starfruit, sugar apple, tamarind
9. Melons		Bitter melon, horned melon, muskmelon (cantaloupe, winter melon, galia), watermelon
Vegetable fruits	10. Tomatoes	Tomatoes (grape, cherry, currant, plum, beef, etc)
	11. Peppers and aubergines	Aubergine, pepper (bell, fresh, sweet, chilli, etc)
	12. Gourds and squashes	Butternut squash, button squash, courgette, cucumber, hubbard squash, kabocha, marrow, muscat, pepita squash, pumpkin
	13. Fresh pods, legumes and grain	Black-eyed pea, chickpea, common bean, fava bean, green bean, horse gram, Indian pea, kidney bean, lentil, lima bean, moth bean, mung bean, okra, pea, pigeon pea, ricebean, snap pea, snow pea, soybean, sweet corn
Leaves	14. Leafy greens eaten raw as salads	Arugula, cabbage, celery, celtuce, chard, chicory, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, cress, endive, lettuce, rocket, spinach
	15. Fresh herbs	Basil, cilantro, celery, coriander, dill, fresh tea, marjoram, mint, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, sage, thyme
	16. Other leaves	Brussel sprouts, kale, pak choy, other cabbage not eaten raw
Root and tuberous vegetables	17. Carrots
	18. Potatoes
	19. Other root and tuberous vegetables	Cassava, ginger, horseradish, parsnip, radish, swede, sweet potato, taro, tigernut, turnip
20. Bulb and stem vegetables		Asparagus, celeriac, celery, fennel, garlic, kohlrabi, leek, onion, shallot, spring onion
21. Flowers and flower buds		Artichoke, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette flower, squash blossom
22. Sprouted seeds		Alfalfa, broccoli, cress, chick pea, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, garlic, leek, lentil, mung bean, onion, pea, radish, shiso, sunflower, wheat
23. Fungi (mushrooms and yeasts)

Table A2. Product-specific role and relevance of packaging for selected fruits and vegetables under typical retail conditions. Adapted and interpreted from White & Lockyer (2020).

Product	Key susceptibility	Typical packaging used	Main function(s) of packaging	Effect on quality and shelf life	Relevance of packaging	Rationale
Apples	Water loss, respiration, bruising	Sold loose or in packaging: polyethylene (PE) bags, flow wrap, cardboard trays,	Reduce water loss; protect against mechanical damage; enable handling and grouping	May reduce weight loss and slow quality deterioration	Context-dependent	Relatively robust product, but some varieties are more sensitive; benefits may be limited depending on storage conditions and supply chain
Bananas	Ethylene-driven ripening, water loss	Sold loose or in packaging: PE bags	Reduce water loss; facilitate handling and grouping	May slow visual quality deterioration	Limited	Temperature management is more important than packaging for shelf life
Broccoli	High respiration, water loss	Often in packaging: usually cling film	Reduce water loss; protect during handling	May slow wilting and quality deterioration	Often beneficial	High metabolic activity and susceptibility to dehydration
Carrots	Water loss	Sold loose or in packaging: PE tied bags	Reduce water loss; maintain turgidity; enable handling and grouping	May help maintain firmness and texture	Limited to moderate	Relatively robust but benefits from reduced water loss
Grapes	Mechanical damage, water loss	Mainly sold in packaging: PET (polyethylene terephthalate) punnets/clamshells	Protect against compression and handling; reduce water loss	May reduce physical damage and spoilage	Often beneficial	Structurally fragile and sensitive to handling; grapes may detach from stalk
Mushrooms	High respiration, water loss	Sold loose or in packaging: plastic punnet with cling film, PET clamshell or other plastic packaging	Regulate humidity and gas exchange; reduce handling	May extend shelf life if conditions are appropriate	Context-dependent	Sensitive to condensation and spoilage under high humidity; need for packaging differ between mushroom species, cf. enoki mushroom vs common mushroom
Oranges	Low susceptibility	Sold loose or in plastic net	Facilitate handling, grouping and transport	Limited effect on quality compared to when sold loose	Limited	Thick peel provides natural protection
Peppers	Water loss, respiration	Sold loose or in packaging: flow wrap PE or PE bags	Reduce water loss; protect against handling damage; enable grouping	May help maintain firmness and quality	Context-dependent	Benefits depend on storage conditions and packaging design
Potatoes	Water loss, light exposure	Sold loose or in packaging: PE bags, paper bags	Reduce water loss; protect from light; enable handling and grouping	May reduce weight loss and delay greening	Limited	Storage conditions (dark, cool) are more important than packaging
Tomatoes	Mechanical damage, ripening	Plastic or cardboard punnets, PET clamshells, flow wrap	Protect against mechanical damage; reduce handling; enable grouping	May reduce physical damage	Context-dependent	Sensitive to handling, but packaging has limited effect on ripening

Table A3. Classification of selected fruits and vegetables according to ethylene sensitivity and climacteric behaviour. Compiled and adapted mainly from OVAM (2024) and MSU (2026). It should be noted that although the classification of ethylene sensitivity and climacteric behaviour is generally consistent across different scientific sources, some variations are reported due to differences between cultivars within the same species.

N/A means information was not available in OVAM (2024) or MSU (2026) but may be available elsewhere.

Fruit or vegetable	Ethylene sensitive?	Climacteric?
Apples	Yes	Yes
Apricots	Yes	Yes
Asparagus	Yes	No
Avocados	Yes	Yes
Bananas	Yes	Yes
Beets, roots	No	N/A
Bell peppers	Yes	No
Blackberries	No	No
Blueberries (American)	No	Yes
Blueberries (European)	N/A	No
Broccoli	Yes	N/A
Brussel sprouts	Yes	N/A
Bulb onions (yellow, red, etc)	No	N/A
Butter beans/Lima beans	No	N/A
Cabbage	Yes	N/A
Carrots	Yes	N/A
Cauliflower	No	N/A
Celery	Yes	N/A
Cherries	No	No
Chili peppers	Yes	No
Chinese Pear	N/A	No
Cocoa	N/A	No
Cooking banana/Plantain	N/A	Yes
Cranberries	No	N/A
Cucumbers	Yes	No
Dragon fruit	N/A	No
Durian	N/A	Yes
Eggplant/Aubergine	Yes	No
Endive	Yes	N/A
Figs	N/A	Yes
Garlic	No	N/A
Grapefruit	No	No
Grapes	No	No
Green beans	Yes	N/A
Green onions	No	N/A
Jackfruit	N/A	Yes
Kiwi	Yes	Yes
Leeks	Yes	N/A
Lemons	No	No
Lettuce	Yes	N/A
Limes	No	No
Lychee	N/A	No
Mango	Yes	Yes
Melon (honeydew, cantaloupe, etc)	Yes	Yes
Mushrooms	No	N/A
Nectarines	Yes	Yes
Okra	Yes	N/A
Olives	N/A	No
Oranges	No	No
Papaya	N/A	Yes
Passion fruit	N/A	Yes
Peaches	Yes	Yes
Pears	Yes	Yes
Peas, in pods	Yes	N/A
Persimmon/Sharon	N/A	Yes
Pineapple	No	No
Plums	Yes	Yes
Pomegranate	N/A	No
Potatoes, early	No	N/A
Potatoes, late	Yes	N/A
Pumpkins	No	No
Quince	N/A	Yes
Radishes	No	N/A
Raspberries	Yes	No
Redcurrant	N/A	No
Spinach	Yes	N/A
Squash, summer	Yes	No
Squash, winter	No	No
Strawberries	No	No
Swedish turnip	No	N/A
Sweet potatoes	Yes	N/A
Sweetcorn	No	N/A
Tangerines	No	N/A
Tomatoes	Yes	Yes
Turnips	No	N/A
Watermelon	No	Yes