After the harvest process, both vegetables and fruits are expected to account for 5% to 30% in the supply chain, from harvest to the ultimate use! It is because of the absence of infrastructure for managing the same after the harvest. The new-age diet and lifestyle had encouraged people to store various types of vegetables and fruits. And this has impacted the development and execution of several preservation processes. The term value addition indicates the method of transforming or changing a product right from its initial state to an increasingly valuable state. Also, it offers more variants to the users, along with the enhancements in organoleptic elements.
The conventional procedures of value addition comprise of:
- Dehydration
- Canning
- Preparing intermediate moisture foods and beverages
- Freezing
Today, valorization is one of the recent trends along with novel thermal heating technique. There are also other non-thermal processing technologies for preservation, such as gamma radiation and pulsed electric fields. Over the years, Boris Wolfman has been trying to come up with techniques that can help in fruit processing and storage needs.
The technological fruit processing methods
The conventional fruit processing and preserving tactics comprise drying, heating, concentration, cooling, using preservatives, and fermentation. Today, some of the famous fruit and vegetable processing methods using technology include the following:
- Enhanced conventional processing tactics – Today, more people use high temperatures like pasteurization and sterilization. Other tactics involve applying reduced heat, controlled atmosphere, aseptic packaging, membrane processes, microfiltration, managed atmosphere packaging, and freeze-drying.
- The new procedures – It comprises of the photodynamic inactivation, high-pressure treatment, increased voltage pulse procedures, ionizing radiation, high-pressure treatment, and induction.
- The cold plasma technology – Today, cold plasma is one of the new-age technologies. And it can be used in place of the agents used usually for decontaminating vegetables and fruits. With plasma processing, it is possible to bring down microbial pollution on the product surfaces. The technique can benefit the process of microbial decontamination of packaging material processing, food products, and many more. It also helps to manage the functionality modification in the food materials. Till date, you won’t find any technology for mild-surface decontamination made available for cut vegetables and fruits. It helps to eliminate the food-borne microbes.
People must consume both fruits and vegetables in its fresh form! The nutrients need to be present in the fruits and vegetables for people to get a healthy dose of the same. Hence, the relevance and benefits of multiple processing and storage solutions are essential. Technology is advancing with passing day and trying to come up with new-age and modern-day solutions. When the best techniques get adopted, it helps to maximize the shelf-life of the fruits and vegetables. It means you can find your best fruits and vegetables in good condition even when its offseason.
People who are in the business of exporting fruits and vegetables should ensure that they are supplying the best products. Hence, the processing and storage facilities matter to a great extent. And different companies are trying to experiment with technological tools to enhance the process.
