**6. Impact of different techniques on shelf life and sensory aspect**

The shelf life of FCF pretreated with chemical preservatives revealed that inspite of the chemical pretreated fruits showed an increase in microbial load; yeast and mold being most prevalent over the FCF during the storage time. However, slow increase in microflora was observed over FCF pretreated with NaOCl. Antimicrobial action of NaOCl leads to reduction in pH and an increase in acidity that adds to the hurdles in the proliferation of the microorganisms during the storage period. Food processing techniques stabilize the product and lengthen their storage and shelf life, production of fresh cut fruits increases their perishability. Enzymatic browning due to oxidation of phenolic compounds lowers the product quality. Sun et al. [79] evaluated the effect of washing of fresh cut potatoes and sweet potatoes with SH and ASC. Results shows that the 500 mg/l concentration is effective alternative to SH at 100 mg/l to inhibit the browning and PPO activity hence allowing longer shelf life.

Quality of fresh cut apples was determined by dipping in organic acids and acidic electrolyzed water. Plesoianu et al. [80] conducted the to investigate the effect of citric acid (2%), benzoic acid (0.2%), sorbic acid (0.2%) and ascorbic acid (0.5%) in acid electrolyzed water. Samples were placed at 8°C for 14 days. The results indicate that the acid electrolyzed water showed less browning on fresh cut sample as compared to ascorbic acid and citric acid. The samples treated with 2% citric acid and acid electrolyzed water significantly maintained the firmness, phenol content and antioxidant activity after 14 days of storage. Nanotechnology is the advance technology for the preservation of fresh cut fruits.

A new example of this technology applied on the minimally processed fresh cut melon. Fresh cut melon (*Cucumis melo* L.) were coated with the alginate-based coating having silver nanoparticles (Ag-MMT) to study the its effect on shelf life of the product. Results shows that the treated sample was effective from microbial and sensory

point of view as compared to the controlled sample hence promoting more acceptance. Prolonged shelf life was also recorded 11 days in case of treated sample as compared to 3 days in control [81]. Active packing of nano-ZnO was studied on fresh cut fuji apple by Li et al. in 2011 [82]. Cutting of fresh cut induce ethylene production which was suppressed by nanopackaging. Polyphenoloxidase and pyrogallol peroxidase acitivites were also reduced. Initial browning index was maintained 23.9 which is much lower than the control sample having 31.7 on 12th day. The research concludes that the naonpackaging could be used to increase the shelf life of the fresh cut fuji apples.

Ozone treatments were also studied for preserving the vegetable quality. Carrot color was found to be insignificantly changed after treatment at 450 ppb for 48 h, 7.6 mg l−1 for 15 min, and between 1 and 5 mg l−1 for 9.5–110.5 min. However, some dry white blotches were observed at 60 μl l−1 and some scattered slightly brown discolored blotches of periderm at 50 nl l−1 were found. Ozone behaves as postharvest stress condition that results in respiration and ethanol production due to an abnormal metabolism. An ozone supply of 15 μl l−1 for 8 h a day for 28 days provides some disease protection with a minimum of physical and physiological damage [83].

Modified atmospheric packaging is very common method used for the preservation of fresh cut fruits and vegetables. Study was conducted to check the effect of MAP used in combination with 2% Natureseal and evaluating the physicochemical and microbial parameters during 21 days at 4°C. Sensory quality was evaluated after 10 days of treatment. The headspace CO2 level in MAP samples amplified significantly up to 35.3% at the end of storage; while O2 decreased significantly. Color values were also affected with no changes in Hunter *L* and *a* values, which decreased and increased, respectively. MAP preserved the sensory eminence of fresh-cut pears up to 10 days of storage [84].

Effect of electric beam irradiation was studied on shelf life of summer truffles (tuber aestivum) packed under modified packaging. Effect of two doses of electron beam irradiation (1.5 and 2.5 kGy) on microbial population and sensory characteristics. Samples were analyzed weekly for 42 days stored at 4°C. Results showed the sample treated with 2.5 kGy e-beam has prolonged the shelf life to 42 days as compared to 21 days for the control samples [85].

Shelf life of the fresh-cut green peppers was extended using pressurized argon treatment. Fresh-cut green peppers were treated with pressurized (2–6 MPa) argon for 1 h. Control and argon-treated samples were placed in polystyrene packaging with 5% O2 and 8% CO2 and then stored at 4°C and 90% RH for 12 days. A range of quality parameters like chlorophyll content, Water loss, Water mobility, sensory quality, ascorbic acid loss, malondialdehyde (MDA), cell membrane permeability, cell protective enzyme activity and microbial quality were determined after every 2 days. Loss of water and water mobility was greatly reduced by the pressurized argon treatment in fresh-cut green peppers. Likewise, ascorbic acid loss, chlorophyll content and hue angle were also reduced during storage. The pressurized argon treatments were found to retain the cell integrity by inhibiting an increase in MDA and membrane permeability compared to the control samples. The treatment also reduced proliferation of coliforms, yeasts and molds. The fresh-cut pressurized argon treated green peppers can be kept in a fresh-like condition for 12 d at 4°C [47].

Latest technologies like pulsed light and cold plasma discussed in this chapter are of great importance for the preservation of fresh cut. Various researches and papers are published which shows their efficacy. Research was conducted to record freshcut 'Golden Delicious' apples' quality attributes after treatment with pulsed light treatment (12 J/cm2 ) and a gellan-gum based (0.5% w/v) edible apple fiber enriched coating. Various physicochemical and sensory aspects were analyzed during 14 days

*Fresh Cut Fruits and Vegetables Disinfection Pretreatment: A Novel Approach to Extend Fresh… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107525*

storage at 4°C. The combined application of coating and PL treatment retarded the microbiological deterioration of fresh-cut apples and maintained the sensory attribute scores above the rejection limits after prolonged storage [86]. Same technique was applied to maintain the physicochemical and nutritional profile of fresh cut mangoes. Pulsed light treatments were carried out using an automatic flash lamp system (Mulieribus, Claranor) composed of eight lamps situated all around the sample with a total fluence of 8 Jcm − 2. Pulsed light treatment maintained the firmness, color and the carotenoids of fresh-cut mangoes.

Cold plasma technique is used for the preservation of minimally processed products. Misra et al. [87] reported the control and CP treated tomatoes showed decrease in respiration rate during the storage. However, the respiration rates were similar for the control and CP-treated tomatoes at the end of storage. The results of Tappi et al. [88] showed that the plasma treatment can cause an alteration of the cellular respiratory pathway. Misra et al. [89] utilized cold plasma treatment for strawberries in modified atmosphere packaging that revealed no significant increase in respiration rate. Tappi et al. [88] reported that cold plasma treatments results in an increase of firmness in fresh-cut apples. The amount of firmness was 18.9 N for the control and 21.8 N for plasma-treated samples at 15 kV for 10 min. The highest firmness was found in cold plasma treated mushrooms which indicates the impending application of this inventive technology in escalating the shelf-life and quality of mushroom after harvesting [90].
