Recent advances in processing and preservation of minimally processed fruits and vegetables: A review – Part 2: Physical methods and global market outlook

Storage Conditions of Refrigerated Prickly Pears in Small Processing Industries

“…According to many authors, the most effective methods for prolonging the postharvest storage of fruits and vegetables are using modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and a controlled atmosphere (CA), but these may not be affordable for all products [13]. The use of edible films and coatings, calcium salt applications, ultraviolet radiation, and cold storage are also widely used preservation techniques for minimally processed products [14,15]. Numerous authors have reported that the application of suitable preservation techniques enables products, for example, cactus pears [16], mangoes [17], pineapples [18], and lychees [19], among others, to obtain similar characteristics to fresh products, with a shelf life of 7-13 days.…”

A New Ready-to-Eat Product Based on Enzymatically Peeled ‘Hernandina’ Clementine Segments and Citrus Syrup

“…Thus, more research is needed to satisfy the consumers' expectations for fresh, low-processed fruits with high phytonutrient content, but also with quality and safety properties that are preserved as long as possible. Therefore, different technologies have been used to retard their perishability, such as heat treatments, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), edible coatings, high pressure, gamma or ultraviolet radiation or electrolyzed water, among others [6,8,9]. Other kinds of ready-to-eat vegetable products are preserved by a mild heat treatment (pasteurization) after washing, slicing, chopping or shredding into 100% usable product.…”

“…Consumers usually judge the quality of ready-to-eat products based on their appearance and freshness at the time of purchase. Therefore, the heat treatments performed on these products to guarantee food safety must satisfy the consumers' requirements in terms of fruit texture and flavour [8,17,18]. The most common treatment to control pathogen growth in ready-to-eat fruit and vegetable products is pasteurization, applied alone or together with other techniques, such as modified atmosphere, refrigeration or other innovative technologies [8,19].…”

“…Therefore, the heat treatments performed on these products to guarantee food safety must satisfy the consumers' requirements in terms of fruit texture and flavour [8,17,18]. The most common treatment to control pathogen growth in ready-to-eat fruit and vegetable products is pasteurization, applied alone or together with other techniques, such as modified atmosphere, refrigeration or other innovative technologies [8,19]. Pasteurization operates at temperatures below 100 • C, usually ranging from 40 to 60 • C, by treatments with hot air or immersion in hot water for different periods depending on the volume of the fruit product, leading to increased useful life while minimally altering the product quality [20,21].…”

“…Pasteurization operates at temperatures below 100 • C, usually ranging from 40 to 60 • C, by treatments with hot air or immersion in hot water for different periods depending on the volume of the fruit product, leading to increased useful life while minimally altering the product quality [20,21]. However, although these treatments are useful to ensure food safety, the application of heat to fresh products under inadequate conditions, can cause serious quality deterioration such as colour and texture degradation, or vitamin loss [8,22]. Thus, appropriate selection of the optimal heat treatment for readyto-eat fruit is needed in order to maintain its best sensory properties and general quality, in addition to its microbiological safety.…”