ARS | Publication request: Reducing decay using pre- and post harvest sanitizer application

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: January 12, 2007
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The application of sanitizers to fruit surfaces reduces the microbial populations and therefore reduces contamination by these organisms thus increasing shelf life and increasing the quality of food for consumption. However, the type of fruit, the topography of the peel and other field factors affect the efficiency of the sanitizer. For example, citrus fruit is more difficult to clean than mango, since the topography of the mango peel is smoother than the dimpled citrus peel. Sanitizing small and fragile fruit like strawberries is different again, as the fruit are soft and the sanitizer collects on the small trichomes on the fruit surface; too strong a sanitizer can therefore burn the fruit. This presentation discusses some of the problems of sanitizer application to fruit surfaces and ways they can be resolved to increase the quality of the fruit and shelf-life as well.