**7. Combined treatments**

Sometimes, the application of two or more post-harvest treatments generates a synergistic effect on the quality and maintenance of the product's useful life. The order in which the treatments are applied determines the effectiveness of the final result [93].

Immersion of strawberry in calcium gluconate subsequently be coated with a formulation of 1% chitosan or chitosan-sodium gluconate was assayed by Hernández-Munoz; better results are obtained when using the formulation of both components [94]. The use of a mixture of chitosan together with organic acids, calcium and vegetable extracts demonstrated a positive impact on fungal control in pre-harvest and post-harvest [95, 96] and the use of an edible coating based on a mixture of *Aloe vera* and beeswax, coupled with the control of temperature and humidity in storage, decreased the percentage of post-harvest losses in strawberry as reported by Affan [97].

On the other hand, the use of physical elicitors in combination of controlled atmospheres has been shown to generate an additive effect in the conservation of strawberry quality. The combination of ozone, atmospheres with high concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide together with the application of UV-C proved to extend the useful life as well as increase the content of polyphenols and ascorbic acid present in the fruit [98]. Likewise, the application of chlorine dioxide, fumaric acid linked to UV-C, decreased the biological load on the fruits [99]. Other compounds or treatments used in combination with UV-C radiation are hot water and salicylic acid [100–102].

Other combined treatments include the use of nitric oxide, ethylene and low temperatures [103], low density polyethylene with nanoparticles of titanium oxide to actively control the respiration of the fruit [104], Use of specific light intensities after washing the fruits in chlorine solution [105] and the use of nitrogen for strawberry freezing at −20°C after sanitization with 50 ppm chlorine [106].

## **8. Conclusions**

The strawberry is a fruit of worldwide interest for its sensory properties and nutritional quality, but its physical and chemical characteristics generate problems in storage and transport. In order to face these challenges, several post-harvest techniques have been tried to know the impact on the quality and characteristics of the fruit. Each technique has advantages and disadvantages and the implementation of one or more of these post-harvest techniques will depend on economic, technical and social factors of the growing region.

In the case of strawberry, the most used techniques are those associated with modified atmospheres, since they allow to regulate the process of senescence of the fruit, but have the disadvantage that, if this atmosphere is altered, the quality of the product will be altered. Physical elicitors have also been widely studied with positive results.

**51**

**Author details**

Rafael Ramirez1

Bogotá, Colombia

2 Oxyion, Bogotá, Colombia

provided the original work is properly cited.

\*, Laura Restrepo2

3 University National of Colombia UNAL, Bogotá, Colombia

\*Address all correspondence to: rafaela.ramirez@unad.edu.co

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

, Claudia Perez<sup>3</sup>

1 University National Open and Remote UNAD, University National of Colombia,

and Alejandro Jimenez1

*Physical, Chemical and Processing Postharvest Technologies in Strawberry*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83575*

### **Conflict of interest**

There is no conflict of interest on the part of the authors.

*Physical, Chemical and Processing Postharvest Technologies in Strawberry DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83575*
