Emerging chemical and physical disinfection technologies of fruits and vegetables: a comprehensive review

Abstract

With a growing demand for safe, nutritious, and fresh-like produce, a number of disinfection technologies have been developed. This review comprehensively examines the working principles and applications of several emerging disinfection technologies. The chemical treatments, including chlorine dioxide, ozone, electrolyzed water, essential oils, high-pressure carbon dioxide, and organic acids, have been improved as alternatives to traditional disinfection methods to meet current safety standards. Non-thermal physical treatments, such as UV-light, pulsed light, ionizing radiation, high hydrostatic pressure, cold plasma, and high-intensity ultrasound, have shown significant advantages in improving microbial safety and maintaining the desirable quality of produce. However, using these disinfection technologies alone may not meet the requirement of food safety and high product quality. Several hurdle technologies have been developed, which achieved synergistic effects to maximize lethality against microorganisms and minimize deterioration of produce quality. The review also identifies further research opportunities for the cost-effective commercialization of these technologies.

Keywords:

• Fruits
• vegetables
• E. coli
• Salmonella
• disinfection
• safety

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Wallace Yokoyama for reviewing the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFD0400905). Dr. Li-Zhen Deng thanks the China Scholarship Council (No. 201806350080) for supporting her oversea research at University of California, Davis.