ABSTRACT
Nowadays, the consumer demand for products offering even greater convenience and higher quality has increased dramatically. “Convenience” is widely recognized as a major purchasing motivator for prepared foods and, at the same time, the term “fresh” has been equated with higher quality, better taste, improved nutrition and a positive benefit that consumers demand. Therefore, designing and manufacturing of equipment and lines to process fresh-cut products involves a series of challenges for the current and future developers. Research and technology will have to assist all the stakeholders in offering more convenient, safe, and nutritional products, while guaranteeing continuously improved sustainable solutions to prepare these products. Focus had been centered for some time on the extension of shelf life, while other factors such as high nutritional quality had been undervalued. Innovative and alternative developments must be conceived to guarantee health benefits (while also addressing taste, particularly important for fresh-cut fruit). Sustainability is a term which is here to stay. The fresh-cut segment cannot ignore the fact that water, energy and materials are declining commodities though they remain essential to modern life and to food production. Production of fresh-cut products has lagged behind in the area of automation but flow control solutions and robots will positively impact this area ultimately increasing efficiency and product consistency. The next generation of machines must also raise the level of accessibility for ease of routine sanitary process, narrowing the existing gap with the meat and dairy industries. To all stakeholders in the fresh-cut industry (from regulators to processors with the equipment manufacturers as a link), equipment designed with hygienic goals in mind is fast becoming an area of primary concern. For this reason, sanitation design will continue to develop as manufacturers and industry organizations apply collective knowledge and advanced engineering to create safer and more efficient processes.
