Climate Change Impacts on Fruit Crop Productivity, Quality and Postharvest Performance: A Critical Review

Global fruit production faces escalating pressures from a rapidly changing climate, with consequences that extend from the orchard through postharvest storage and supply chains to the consumer. Rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, an increased frequency of extreme weather events, and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are collectively reshaping the phenology, productivity, biochemical composition, and storability of a wide range of fruit crops. This review critically evaluates the evidence concerning climate change impacts across three interlinked dimensions: field-level productivity, fruit quality, and postharvest performance. Literature for this review was retrieved through a structured search of multiple bibliographic databases conducted between January 2000 and March 2026. General academic databases searched included Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The evidence indicates that warming trends are advancing key phenological events such as flowering and fruit set, disrupting the chilling requirements of temperate fruit species, and intensifying heat stress during critical reproductive and developmental stages. Elevated carbon dioxide may stimulate photosynthesis in some crops, but its benefits are frequently attenuated by concurrent temperature and water stress. Fruit quality attributes—including anthocyanin concentrations, sugar and organic acid content, firmness, and ascorbic acid levels—are responding in ways that are often non-linear and commercially unfavourable. Postharvest shelf life, storability, and susceptibility to fungal pathogens are similarly being compromised. Drought and irregular water availability further compound these challenges. Adaptation strategies examined include climate-resilient cultivar development, regulated deficit irrigation, and technological innovation in postharvest management. Substantial knowledge gaps remain, particularly with respect to tropical and subtropical fruit species, gene–environment interactions under multi-stressor conditions, and the cumulative economic implications for smallholder farmers in developing nations. This synthesis underscores the urgent need for integrated, interdisciplinary research to support the long-term viability of global fruit supply systems.