A comparative study on the textural and nutritional profile of high pressure and minimally processed pineapple

Emerging Postharvest Technologies to Enhance the Shelf-Life of Fruit and Vegetables: An Overview

Quality losses in fresh produce throughout the postharvest phase are often due to the inappropriate use of preservation technologies. In the last few decades, besides the traditional approaches, advanced postharvest physical and chemical treatments (active packaging, dipping, vacuum impregnation, conventional heating, pulsed electric field, high hydrostatic pressure, and cold plasma) and biocontrol techniques have been implemented to preserve the nutritional value and safety of fresh produce. The application of these methodologies after harvesting is useful when addressing quality loss due to the long duration when transporting products to distant markets. Among the emerging technologies and contactless and non-destructive techniques for quality monitoring (image analysis, electronic noses, and near-infrared spectroscopy) present numerous advantages over the traditional, destructive methods. The present review paper has grouped original studies within the topic of advanced postharvest technologies, to preserve quality and reduce losses and waste in fresh produce. Moreover, the effectiveness and advantages of some contactless and non-destructive methodologies for monitoring the quality of fruit and vegetables will also be discussed and compared to the traditional methods.

Shelf Life Prediction and Kinetics of Quality Changes in Pineapple (Ananas comosus) Varieties at Different Storage Temperatures

Shelf life estimation is an important factor to predict the freshness of fruits. This study aimed to investigate the shelf life and the changes in the physicochemical properties of three different pineapple varieties, namely MD2, Josapine, and Morris stored at 5, 10, and 25 °C. The effect of storage temperature on pineapple changes in total soluble solids, pH, moisture content, firmness, and colour was evaluated for 21 days of the storage period. It was revealed that different storage temperatures have a significant effect on the shelf life and quality of different pineapple varieties. The firmness and moisture content showed high regression coefficients, hence were used for the shelf life prediction of pineapple based on kinetic models. By using first-order kinetics, the coefficient of determination (R2) values for quality changes in pineapples ranged from 0.893 to 0.992. The results also demonstrated that the samples stored at 10 °C had the longest shelf life in relation to the changes in firmness and moisture content of the fruit. The findings indicated that shelf life estimation plays an important role to improve the quality preservation of fresh fruits and vegetables during storage.