ABSTRACT
Postharvest diseases cause considerable loss of harvested fruits and vegetables globally. In this chapter, eco-friendly, non-thermal and nontoxic alternative disinfection and sanitization applications as alternatives to the conventional chlorine compounds are covered. The various disinfection mechanisms, microbial effects and applications to fruits and vegetables on food safety and quality attributes are described. The review details some research advances in non-thermal chemical disinfection technologies such as chlorine dioxide, electrolyzed water and ozone and the physical disinfection technologies of ultraviolet light-C, cold atmospheric pressure plasma, pulsed light, high hydrostatic pressure ultrasound and nanotechnology to control to physicochemical quality, microbiological safety, postharvest diseases, and shelf life in the postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables. Concentration, contact time, disinfectant and produce type are critical consideration factors in the decontamination of fruits and vegetables. The focus of disinfection technologies has been on combining various preservation hurdles resulting in synergistic lethal microbial effects and less harsh quality effects on the produce. The emerging nanotechnological applications include nanodisinfectants, nanofilms and nanopackaging with antimicrobial functionality. The non-thermal and environmentally friendly technologies are promising for the disinfection of fruits and vegetables.
