Authors: Fan, Lihua; Song, Jun

Source: Stewart Postharvest Review, Volume 4, Number 3, June 2008 , pp. 1-9(9)

Publisher: Stewart Postharvest Solutions

Abstract:

Purpose of review: The microbial population of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables is determined to a large extent by the origin of fruits and vegetables, agricultural practices, conditions of harvesting, processing and storage. During distribution and storage, high humidity in packaged fresh-cut products and cut surfaces provide favourable conditions for the growth of spoilage microorganisms. Microbial quality assessment should be taken into consideration in evaluating the impact of handling, processing and treatment procedures on maintaining the quality of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and determining their shelf-life.

Findings: In performing microbial quality assessment, it is important to follow standardised methods that define conditions such as incubation temperature and duration, media composition and growth atmosphere in order to be able to compare data from within the same laboratory and between different laboratories. In this review, we describe microbial assessment methods commonly used for fresh-cut fruit and vegetable microbial quality evaluation. These include the enumeration and identification of aerobic mesophilic bacteria (aerobic plate count), psychrotrophic microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria, yeast and mould, and coliforms. Some rapid methods for enumerating microorganisms from food samples are also discussed.

Directions for future research: Well integrated quality assessments that include microbial quality, physiological and sensory quality are important to determine the shelf-life of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Microbial quality data need to be correlated with shelf-life outcomes in order to understand the linkage between microbial population dynamics and quality changes in response to pre and postprocessing treatments. The role of microbial contaminant-induced deterioration versus produce physiologic deterioration in fresh-cut products needs to be determined. Such will enable the development of better approaches for maintaining good quality and ensuring the safety of products.

Keywords: FRESH-CUT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES; MICROBIAL QUALITY; SPOILAGE MICROORGANISMS; MICROBIAL ASSESSMENT; MICROBIAL ENUMERATION; AND IDENTIFICATION

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2212/spr.2008.3.10

Publication date: 2008-06-01

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