The Market of the Minimally Processed Fresh Produce Needs of Safer Strategies for Improving Shelf Life and Quality: A Critical Overview of the Traditional Technologies

The market of minimally processed fresh produce have grown rapidly in the last years as a result of consumer attitudes change due to their increasing use in prepared mixed salad for fresh, healthy and convenient food. Handling and mechanical operations of cutting and peeling induce release of on-site cellular contents which promote the growth of harmful microbes. Chlorine has been widely adopted in disinfection washing due to its low cost and high efficacy against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. Continuous replenishment of chlorine into high organic wash water can promote the formation of suspected carcinogenic compounds. Although advanced methods and chemicals can be proposed to achieve significant reduction of microorganism count without the production of harmful compounds, nor compromising the quality of fresh produce, fewer amount of them have gained widespread acceptance by the food industry. The aim of this paper was to give an upgraded level of critical understanding of the traditional technologies to address future researches in order to resolve certain novel issues that nowadays limit the shelf-life and quality of minimally processed fruit and vegetable for a modern food industry.