Influence of ultraviolet light treatment on surface decontamination of fresh-cut fruits

Abstract

Consumer demand for high quality minimally processed fruit with natural flavour and fresh appearance has been greatly increased in recent years. Besides, fresh-cut fruits are broadly growing segments in retail establishments. However, fresh-cut processing includes unit operations such as peeling, trimming, cutting and slicing that alter the integrity of fruits’ tissues and can induce wounding stress which promotes microbial growing of natural microbiota. Pathogens may form part of fruits’ natural microbiota, so that this lead to a potential safety problem. Physical processing techniques such as ultraviolet (UV) light treatment meet these requirements. The aim of this paper was to investigate the available literature data and provide a general review of the application of UV light treatment for the decontamination, preventing diseased and enhancing the shelf life and quality of fresh-cut fruits.