ABSTRACT
242Fresh fruits and vegetables have always been a part of the human diet, and even during early crop cultivation, producers and distributors were concerned about losses. International trade in fruits and vegetables, worldwide, is severely constrained by quarantine and phytosanitation barriers, which were erected to prevent the spread of fungal and bacterial diseases in fresh and fresh-cut produce. Trade constraints can be removed only when an effective treatment exists for use on fresh produce after harvest. For example, fungicides and pesticides are used to prevent pest and fungus proliferation on produce, but chemical treatments are under intensifying scrutiny because their potential carcinogenic properties add contamination to their impacts on the natural environment. In order to decrease the use of synthetic treatments to control fungal infections and insect infestation and to ensure quality of fresh-harvested fruits and vegetables, alternative methods to control postharvest decay are being developed and applied. New postharvest treatments include heat treatments such as hot water treatment or dips, and short hot water rinsing and brushing treatments. Hot air or steam treatments reduce rot development, provide quarantine security, and preserve fruit quality during cold storage and shelf life. The aim of this chapter is to elucidate the latest information on physical and heat treatments and on their possible modes of action; it summarizes recently accumulated information regarding hot water treatments, applied either individually or in combination with other means, to control rot development and infestation on fresh-harvested and fresh-cut produce. It also aims to address possible problems and difficulties arising from the use of heat treatments.
