Fresh produce constitutes 44% by weight of the global food losses and waste. Postharvest losses of fresh produce are closely related to the preharvest field conditions during growth. In the Central US, many small acreage vegetable growers are utilizing high tunnels, which have been successful in increasing the yield of several crops. Little is known about the effect of this production system on the postharvest losses. This study tested the hypothesis that the production system will affect the postharvest losses of organic spinach (Spinacia oleracea, “Corvair”) when stored at 3 or 13 °C. Comparative open field and high tunnel trials were conducted from 2015 to 2017. Postharvest losses were evaluated with regard to the spinach quality characteristics and shelf life. During storage at 3 °C, there were no major quality differences between the spinach grown in the two production systems. During storage at 13 °C, in both years, spinach grown in the high tunnels had 1.2 to 2.3% higher water content than spinach grown in the open field. In the second year, high tunnel spinach stored at 13 °C had a lower respiration rate (P < 0.05) and a slower rate of yellowing as indicated by higher chlorophyll content (P < 0.001), significantly lower lightness values, and significantly higher hue values than open field spinach. The high tunnel spinach demonstrated longer shelf life in year 1 and higher quality towards the end of storage in year two when compared to open field spinach when stored at 13 °C. This is the first study to examine the effect of the high tunnel production system on the postharvest quality and losses of spinach. Our results indicate that high tunnels can reduce the postharvest food losses of spinach when stored at 13 °C, due to increased water content and decreased senescence rate.

新鲜农产品占全球粮食损失和浪费的44％（重量）。新鲜农产品收获后的损失与生长期间收获前的田间条件密切相关。在美国中部，许多小面积蔬菜种植者都在利用高地隧道，这已成功地提高了几种农作物的产量。关于该生产系统对收获后损失的影响知之甚少。这项研究检验了以下假设：生产系统将影响有机菠菜（菠菜）的收获后损失，“ Corvair”）存放在3或13°C下。从2015年至2017年进行了比较性的野外试验和高隧试验。对菠菜的品质特性和保质期进行了收获后损失评估。在3°C下储存期间，两种生产系统中生长的菠菜之间没有主要的质量差异。在13°C的储存期间，这两个年份中，在高空隧道中生长的菠菜的水分含量都比在露天田地中生长的菠菜高1.2至2.3％。第二年，高通道菠菜在13°C下储存时，呼吸速率较低（P  <0.05），而黄化速率较慢，这表明叶绿素含量较高（P <0.001），明度值显着降低，而色相值则显着高于野外菠菜。与在13°C下储存的裸露菠菜相比，高通道菠菜在第一年的货架期更长，到第二年的储存期末质量更高。这是第一项研究高隧道生产系统对收获后质量和菠菜损失的影响的研究。我们的研究结果表明，由于水分含量增加和衰老速率降低，在13°C下储存时，高通道可以减少菠菜收获后的食物损失。