Decontamination of Fresh and Minimally Processed Produce

Decontamination of Fresh and Minimally-Processed Produce is the first book to provide a systematic view of the different types of decontaminants for fresh and minimally processed produce. By describing the different effects – microbiological, sensory, nutritional and toxicological – of decontamination treatments, a team of internationally respected authors reveals not only the impact of decontaminants on food safety, but also on microbial spoilage, vegetable physiology, sensory quality, nutritional and phytochemical content, shelf-life, and regulatory and toxicological issues.

The book commences with a discussion of how produce gets contaminated and its implications for decontamination. The various decontamination methods are then explored in depth in terms of definition, generation devices, microbial inactivation mechanisms, effects on food safety and effects beyond food safety. Decontaminants covered include: washers, minimal processing, chlorine, electrolyzed oxidizing water, chlorine dioxide, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, peroxyacetic acid, essential oils and edible films and coatings. Other decontamination methods addressed are biological strategies – virus, protective cultures, bacteriocins and quorum sensing – and physical methods – mild heat, continuous UV light, ionizing radiation and hurdle technology. The book concludes with descriptions of post-decontamination methods related to storage such as active and modified atmosphere packaging, the cold chain, as well as modeling tools important to predict microbial inactivation and microbial growth. Decontamination of Fresh and Minimally-Processed Produce details the many methods and effects of decontamination so that industry professionals can differentiate among state-of-the-art methods and consequently select the most suitable approach for their purposes.

Nyckelord: Fruit & Vegetable