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Over the last three decades, decontamination management of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFVs) in the packhouses and along the supply chains has been heavily dependent on chemical-based wash. This has resulted in the emergence of resistant foodborne pathogens and often the deposition of disinfectant byproducts on FFVs, rendering them unacceptable to consumers. The management of foodborne pathogens, microbial contaminants, and quality of FFVs are a major concern for the horticultural industries and public health. Activated water systems (AWS), such as electrolyzed water, plasma-activated water, and micro-nano bubbles, have gained significant attention from researchers over the last decade due to their nonthermal and nontoxic mode of action for microbial inactivation and preservation of FFVs quality. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of recent progress on the application of AWS and their effects on quality attributes and microbial safety of FFVs. An overview of the different types of AWS and their properties is provided. Furthermore, the review highlights the chemistry behind generation of reactive species and the impact of AWS on the quality attributes of FFVs and on the inactivation/reduction of spoilage and pathogenic microbes (in vivo or in vitro). The mechanisms of action of microorganism inactivation are discussed. Finally, this work highlights challenges and limitations for commercialization and safety and regulation issues of AWS. The synergistic prospect on combining AWS for maximum microorganism inactivation effectiveness is also considered. AWS offers a potential alternative as nonchemical interventions to maintain quality attributes, inactivate spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, and extend the shelf-life for FFVs.

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Mango fruits are a rich source of nutrients, however, due to their perishability and seasonality, minimal processing and drying offer the potential ensure a shelf stable and safe product. The use of sodium metabisulphite (SMB) as pre-treatment in the dried fruit industry has been widely adopted, but sulphite residue remains a health public concern. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of alkaline and acidic electrolyzed water (AIEW and AEW, mg/mL) as alternative pre-treatments to SMB (1% w/w) for 'Tommy Atkins' mango slices prior to hot air drying at 60 °C. Fresh-cut and untreated samples were used as a control. During the drying process the weight of the slices were monitored every 60 min for 10 h, which was used to calculate moisture ratio (MR), drying rate (DR), and the experimental data of the samples were subjected to eight thin layer models. Colour parameters (L*, a*, and b*) were measured, and use to determine colour intensity (C*), hue angle (h°), and total colour difference (TCD) before and after drying. Based on measured weight, continuous decline in MR was recorded for all dried mango slices over the drying time irrespective on treatment. Out of the eight applied thin layer models Henderson & Pabis and Logarithmic were the best appropriate models describing and predicting the drying behavior of 'Tommy Atkins' mangoes (R2 = 0.94, RMSE ≥ 0.0006). Samples treated with AEW treated samples had lowest L*, h°, and TCD values (p < 0.05). No significant different were found in h° values amongst all pre-treated and dried samples (p > 0.05), but these samples were significantly different from dried untreated (control) and fresh samples (p < 0.05). Pre-treatments maintained the visual quality of dried 'Tommy Atkins' mango slices; SMB > AIEW > AEW > untreated (control). This study provided science-based evidence for the application of acidic and alkaline electrolyzed water as an alternative pre-treatment to sodium metabisulphite for the drying of 'Tommy Atkins' mango.

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Biodegradable polymers have shown enormous potential for application in food packaging systems and offer solutions to mitigate the challenges of single-use plastics. Over the past decade, advances in fermentation technology, metabolic engineering of microorganisms, and synthetic biology have enabled the optimization and functionalization of biodegradable polymers for food packaging application. This article provides an overview of the biotechnological approaches/methods used in advancing the production of biopolymers and summarizes the recent developments in the application of functionalized biopolymers for decision-making and quality control. It discusses the current applications and future perspectives of extracellular biopolymers in food systems. Finally, this review highlights the complexities of public acceptance, safety, and government regulations and legislations.

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Apples are rich sources of selected micronutrients (e.g., iron, zinc, vitamins C and E) and polyphenols (e.g., procyanidins, phloridzin, 5'-caffeoylquinic acid) that can help in mitigating micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) and chronic diseases. This review provides an up-to-date overview of the significant bioactive compounds in apples together with their reported pharmacological actions against chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. For consumers to fully gain these health benefits, it is important to ensure an all-year-round supply of highly nutritious and good-quality apples. Therefore, after harvest, the physicochemical and nutritional quality attributes of apples are maintained by applying various postharvest treatments and hurdle techniques. The impact of these postharvest practices on the safety of apples during storage is also highlighted. This review emphasizes that advancements in postharvest management strategies that extend the storage life of apples should be optimized to better preserve the bioactive components crucial to daily dietary needs and this can help improve the overall health of consumers.

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Abstract: Nectarine fruit is highly perishable due to its high moisture content (89%) and susceptibility to decay. Continuous degradation in quality attributes due to physiological responses and ripening result ultimately in post-harvest losses. Drying of fruit offers the possibility to minimize losses and add value to fresh produce. Thus, this study evaluated the impacts of sodium metabisulphite (SMB; 10 g/kg) and characterized the influence of hot air (50 °C) drying on the kinetics, fruit tissue microstructure, and the physicochemical properties of dried 'Sunectwentyone' nectarines (Super star®). Out of the nine mathematical models, Logarithmic and Henderson, and Pabis models were the most suitable to predict the drying behaviour of sliced nectarines (R 2 = 0.94). Based on the microstructural analysis, prolonged drying led to higher tissue displacement/disruption in dehydrated nectarine slices. Results showed that SMB treatment was more effective in maintaining both the freshness and the color of 'Sunectwentyone' nectarine than the untreated. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-022-01039-6.

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Over the years, chemical pre-treatments have been used intensively to maintain apple quality and reduce decay during postharvest. This conduct has been reported to have a negative impact on environment and human health. This study aimed to investigate alternative approaches such as hot water (HW) and electrolyzed water (WE) treatments for decay management of 'Granny Smith' apples. Two different sets of experiments were set up for this study. In experiment 1, the effects of HW treatment (45 °C) under varying dipping durations (5, 10 and 15 min) on physicochemical quality of apple were investigated. In experiment 2, the curative efficacy of slightly alkaline electrolyzed water (SAl-EW) (50, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mg L-1) against Botrytis cinerea was investigated. Hot water treatment duration (15 min) had beneficial effects on flesh firmness, fruit colour, total soluble solid (TSS) and titritable acidity (TA) by the end of the storage. In contrast, a significant reduction in fruit weight and TA values (p < 0.05) were observed in control fruit. The SAl-EW treatments against B. cinerea resulted in a significant reduction in lesion zones compared to the untreated control fruit. Curative efficacy was most effective at concentrations of 200-500 mg L-1 for 5 °C and 300-500 mg L-1 for 24 °C. These findings suggest the potential of combining lower concentrations of SAl-EW with other hurdle techniques for better preservation of fresh apples.

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Pomegranate fruit is valued for its social, economic, aesthetic and health benefits. The fruit rapidly loses quality after harvest due to continued metabolic responses and physiological disorders under sub-optimal conditions. The incidence of physiological disorder such as husk scald manifests during storage and commercial shipping, which affects the appearance and limits marketability. Despite the importance of pomegranate husk scald, little information is available about the origin and molecular mechanisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the scald incidence of pomegranate fruit at molecular level using RNA-Seq (Ion Proton™ Next Generation Sequencing) by analyzing peel transcriptomic changes. The RNA-seq analysis generated 98,441,278 raw reads. 652 Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) with a fold change of > |2|, a p value ≤ 0.05 and a false discovery rate (FDR) of <0.05 were identified between healthy and scald fruit peels. An analysis of the gene ontologies of these DEGs revealed the 432 genes were assigned with molecular functions, 272 as cellular components and 205 as part of biological processes. In this analysis, genes (Pgr023188 and Pgr025081) that encode uncharacterized protein and gene (Pgr007593) that encodes glycosyltransferase showed significantly highest fold changes. Genes (Pgr003448, Pgr006024 and Pgr023696) involved in various iron binding and oxidoreductase activities were significantly suppressed. This is the first transcriptome analysis of pomegranate fruit peel related to husk scald development. Results obtained from this study will add valuable information on husk scald related changes on pomegranate fruit at genomic level and provide insight on other related physiological disorders.

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Pericarp drying is a major postharvest challenge affecting the shelf life of litchi fruit resulting in loss of market value and consumer rejection. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is considered an allergen due to its ability to cause irritation in people, particularly those vulnerable to asthma. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of packaging and storage duration without SO2 on the quality attributes of minimally processed litchi fruit cv. 'Mauritus'. Minimally processed litchi cv. 'Mauritius' were packed inside clamshell trays with different perforation sizes: 0 (P-0), 1.1 mm (P-1), and 5.4 mm (P-2) and stored at 1 °C for 15 days, and then held at 12 °C for 2 days for shelf life study (mimicking retail practices). The least mass loss % was observed in fruit packaged under P-0 followed by P-1 and P-2 until the end of storage. Fruit packed in P-2 (5.4 mm perforation) had the highest firmness compared to samples from other packages, but, they also had the highest decay incidences at day 9. The TSS (°Brix) was highest in fruit packed under P-0 followed by P-2 than P-1 at the end of storage. The TSS:TA increased significantly with storage duration with highest value obtained on day 9 in P-0 (121.63) in comparison to P-1 (108.44) and P-2 (103.35). Ascorbic acid and radical scavenging activity declined with prolonged storage irrespective of package type. Overall litchi fruit were better maintained in non-perforated and 1.1 mm perforated clamshell trays up to 9 days, without decay incidences.

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The determination of appropriate dietary strategies for the prevention of chronic degenerative diseases, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases remains a challenging and highly relevant issue worldwide. Epidemiological dietary interventions have been studied for decades with contrasting impacts on human health. Moreover, research scientists and physicians have long debated diets encouraging alcohol intake, such as the Mediterranean and French-style diets, with regard to their impact on human health. Understanding the effects of these diets may help to improve in the treatment and prevention of diseases. However, further studies are warranted to determine which individual food components, or combinations thereof, have a beneficial impact on different diseases, since a large number of different compounds may occur in a single food, and their fate in vivo is difficult to measure. Most explanations for the positive effects of Mediterranean-style diet, and of the French paradox, have focused largely on the beneficial properties of antioxidants, among other compounds/metabolites, in foods and red wine. Wine is a traditional alcoholic beverage that has been associated with both healthy and harmful effects. Not withstanding some doubts, there is reasonable unanimity among researchers as to the beneficial effects of moderate wine consumption on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and longevity, which have been ascribed to polyphenolic compounds present in wine. Despite this, conflicting findings regarding the impact of alcohol consumption on human health, and contradictory findings concerning the effects of non-alcoholic wine components such as resveratrol, have led to confusion among consumers. In addition to these contradictions and misconceptions, there is a paucity of human research studies confirming known positive effects of polyphenols in vivo. Furthermore, studies balancing both known and unknown prognostic factors have mostly been conducted in vitro or using animal models. Moreover, current studies have shifted focus from red wine to dairy products, such as cheese, to explain the French paradox. The aim of this review is to highlight the contradictions, misconceptions, and scientific facts about wines and diets, giving special focus to the Mediterranean and French diets in disease prevention and human health improvement. To answer the multiplicity of questions regarding the effects of diet and specific diet components on health, and to relieve consumer uncertainty and promote health, comprehensive cross-demographic studies using the latest technologies, which include foodomics and integrated omics approaches, are warranted.

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BACKGROUND: Successful characterization of the relationship between respiration rate (RR) and low oxygen (O2 ) limit is critical for optimizing the modified atmosphere condition. It is well documented that a low O2 atmosphere reduces the RR of fresh produce, but could also lead to abiotic stress due to the accumulation of glycolysis end products. Therefore, this study investigated the response of pomegranate arils exposed to low O2 atmosphere (composed of 2 kPa O2 , 18 kPa carbon dioxide, and 80 kPa nitrogen) and identified the low O2 limit at 5 °C and 10 °C. The study aim was achieved by using real-time RR and respiration quotient (RQ) data, microbial growth, identifying changes in the fermentative volatile organic compounds profile, and the consumption of respiratory metabolites (organic acids and individual sugars). RESULTS: The gas concentrations changed significantly respective to the storage temperature and resulted in a significant change in the parameters studied. The response of pomegranate arils to low O2 stress involves making alterations to the metabolic composition, especially those involved in anaerobiosis, such as the accumulation of ethanol, and an immediate increase on RQ. CONCLUSION: Pomegranate arils (cv. Wonderful) can tolerate down to 1.9 kPa O2 and 2.3 kPa O2 concentrations at 5 °C and 10 °C respectively. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

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The influence of packaging materials (plastic bucket, low density polyethylene [LDPE] bags and paper bags) on quality attributes of the flour of 2 cassava cultivars (TME 419 and UMUCASS 36) stored at 23 ± 2 °C and 60% relative humidity (RH) were investigated for 12 wk. Cassava flour from each package type was evaluated for proximate composition, physicochemical properties and microbial growth at 4-wk intervals. Total color difference (∆E) of both cassava flour cultivars increased with storage duration. Flour packed in plastic bucket had the lowest change in color (3.2 ± 0.42) for cv. "TME 419Ë® and (4.1 ± 0.87) for cv. "UMUCASS 36Ë® at the end of week 12. Total carotenoid decreased across all treatment, and after the 12 wk storage, the highest total carotenoid retention (1.7 ± 0.02 and 2.0 ± 0.05 µg/mL) was observed in flour packed in plastic bucket. However, cassava flour in paper bag had the lowest microbial count of 3.4 ± 0.03 and 3.4 ± 0.08 log cfu/g for total aerobic mesophilic bacteria and fungi, respectively.

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BACKGROUND: This study investigated the changes in chemical attributes of pomegranate fruit such as total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, pH, individual compounds (organic acids and sugars) and volatile composition as affected by fruit maturity status and growing location (Kakamas, Koedoeshoek and Worcester in South Africa). Headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used for volatile analysis. RESULTS: A significant increase in TSS from 14.7 ± 0.6 to 17.5 ± 0.6 °Brix was observed with advancement in fruit maturity, while TA decreased from 2.1 ± 0.7 to 1.1 ± 0.3 g citric acid per 100 mL across all agro-climatic locations investigated. Fruit TSS/TA ratio and pH increased from 7.8 ± 2.6 to 16.6 ± 2.8 and from 3.3 ± 0.1 to 3.6 ± 0.2 respectively during fruit maturation across all agro-climatic locations. Fructose and glucose concentrations increased continually with fruit maturity from 69.4 ± 4.9 to 91.1 ± 4.9 g kg(-1) and from 57.1 ± 4.7 to 84.3 ± 5.2 g kg(-1) respectively. A total of 13 volatile compounds were detected and identified, belonging to five chemical classes. The most abundant volatile in unripe and mid-ripe fruit was 1-hexanol, while 3-hexen-1-ol was highest at commercial maturity. CONCLUSION: Knowledge on the impact of fruit maturity and agro-climatic locations (with different altitudes) on biochemical and aroma volatile attributes of pomegranate fruit provides a useful guide for selecting farm location towards improving fruit quality and the maturity stage best for juice processing.

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Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technology offers the possibility to retard the respiration rate and extend the shelf life of fresh produce, and is increasingly used globally as value adding in the fresh and fresh-cut food industry. However, the outbreaks of foodborne diseases and emergence of resistant foodborne pathogens in MAP have heightened public interest on the effects of MAP technology on the survival and growth of pathogenic organisms. This paper critically reviews the effects of MAP on the microbiological safety of fresh or fresh-cut produce, including the role of innovative tools such as the use of pressurised inert/noble gases, predictive microbiology and intelligent packaging in the advancement of MAP safety. The integration of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points-based programs to ensure fresh food quality and microbial safety in packaging technology is highlighted.

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Understanding the effect of time and temperature on the respiration rate (RR) of fresh-cut produce, towards the design of a suitable modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) system, requires an adequate mathematical model for prediction of RR as a function of both time and temperature. This study investigated the effect of temperature (5, 10, and 15 °C) and storage time (1 to 5 d) on the RR (R(O2) and R(CO2)) of 2 pomegranate cultivars (cv. "Acco" and "Herskawitz") fresh arils. R(O2) and R(CO2) were 3 to 4 folds significantly higher with increased temperature from 5 to 15 °C and were within the range of 2.51 to 7.59 mL/kg h and 2.72 to 9.01 mL/kg h, respectively, for both cultivars. At 15 °C R(CO2) increased significantly from 8.4 to 25.96 mL/kg h from day 1 to 5, respectively, while at 5 °C R(CO2) changed from 2.9 to 2.05 mL/kg h from day 1 to 5. Temperature had the greatest influence on RR and the interaction of time and temperature also significantly affected R(O2) and R(CO2). The respiratory quotient (RQ) estimated by linear regression was 0.98 at 95% significant level. The dependence of RR on temperature and time was accurately described with a combination of an Arrhenius-type and power equation model for and of fresh pomegranate arils.

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