ABSTRACT
Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and storage diseases are responsible for substantial postharvest losses. Approaches alternative to chemical programs to control diseases and decay in stored crops are actively sought, including the intensification of natural defense mechanisms of the plants. Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation, a harmful stressor to organisms, elicits beneficial responses, a biological phenomenon known as hormesis, at low or hormetic doses in postharvest crops. The favorable responses to hormetic doses of UV-C in a variety of crops include induced disease resistance and delayed senescence, and potential elevation of health-beneficial phytocompounds. The mechanisms of disease resistance induced by UV-C hormesis are described based on the available literature, and they include phytoalexins, cell wall reinforcement, biochemical barriers, defense-related proteins, and delayed senescence that helps to maintain constitutive and induced defenses during storage. The chapter also emphasizes the maintenance of quality attributes of fresh fruits and vegetables and the enhancement of health-beneficial secondary metabolites by UV-C, which could contribute to improved consumer acceptance. Finally, the challenges in transferring this technology as an effective means of controlling storage diseases into practice are highlighted.
