ABSTRACT
Fruits and Vegetables ....................................................... 269 7.3 Microbiology ................................................................................ 270 7.4 Quality and Safety of Fresh-Cut Fruits and Vegetables ............... 275 7.5 Trends in Preserving Quality and Ensuring
Microbiological Safety of Fresh Cut Produce.............................. 278 7.5.1 Modified Atmosphere Packaging ..................................... 278 7.5.2 Edible Coatings ................................................................ 281 Keywords .............................................................................................. 283 References ............................................................................................. 283
7.1 INTRODUCTION
Fruit and vegetables comprise essential components of the human diet and are being linked to health and nutritional benefits associated with their consumption. Currently, benefits of fruit and vegetables through diet are now well known and are documented in the literature. Average dailyrecommended intake of fruits and vegetables per capita, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2008) is more than 400 gram. Freshcut products offering convenience may play an important role to help meet the recommended daily intake or other essential dietary requirements (Siddiqui and Rahman, 2015).
