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Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 16596

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Dr. Lin Chen

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Guest Editor

Food, Nutrition and Health, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Interests: food safety control; foodomics; postharvest physiology; food processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Rui Li

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Guest Editor

School of Horticulture, Hainan University, Haikou, China
Interests: postharvest storage; food quality and safely control; biological control; regulation of fruit disease resistance; fruit ripening and senescence

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Postharvest fruits and vegetables are subject to various physiological and biochemical changes, eventually leading to quality deterioration (browning, softening, loss of nutritional value, etc.). Moreover, they are rich in nutrients that provide favorable conditions for the growth of microorganisms. As a result, they are highly susceptible to pathogens throughout their life cycles. Recently, various new technologies and approaches (physical, chemical, and biological) have been applied in postharvest studies of disease, quality and safety control. Many have exhibited promising results and practice. In this Special Issue, the objective is to highlight the different innovative findings in postharvest preservation, food nutrition control, the regulation mechanisms of fruit disease resistance, and the control of foodborne pathogens. This Special Issue also welcomes any research that utilizes big data analytics (e.g., foodomics, machine learning) to address a comprehensive understanding of postharvest control.

Dr. Lin Chen
Dr. Rui Li
Guest Editors

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Keywords

postharvest storage
food quality and safety
fruit disease resistance
biological control
postharvest processing
foodomics

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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19 pages, 3302 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Carbon Dot-Mediated Photodynamic Treatment Improves the Quality Attributes of Post-Harvest Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum L.) via Regulating the Antioxidant System

by Juan Du, Zhi-Jing Ni, Wei Wang, Kiran Thakur, Run-Hui Ma, Wen-Ping Ma and Zhao-Jun Wei

Foods 2024, 13(6), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13060955 - 21 Mar 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1457

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) have been proposed as photosensitizers in photodynamic treatment (PDT), owing to their excellent biological attributes and budding fruit preservation applications. In the present study, CDs (4.66 nm) were synthesized for photodynamic treatment to improve the quality attributes in post-harvest goji berries. The prepared CDs extended the storage time of the post-harvest goji berries by 9 d. The CD-mediated PDT postponed the hardness and decay index loss, reduced the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and superoxide anion (O₂^•−) significantly, and delayed the loss of vital nutrients like the total protein, phenols, and flavonoids. The CD-mediated PDT improved the catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), glutathione reductase (GR), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, but did not improve polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. In addition, The CD-mediated PDT induced the accumulation of ascorbic acid (ASA) and glutathione (GSH). Overall, a CD-mediated PDT could extend the storage time and augment the quality attributes in post-harvest fresh goji berries by regulating the antioxidant system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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17 pages, 1050 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tannic Acid and Ca²⁺ Double-Crosslinked Alginate Films for Passion Fruit Preservation

by Jun Yang, Tao Fei, Wanli Zhang and Xinli Cong

Foods 2023, 12(21), 3936; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12213936 - 27 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1864

Abstract

In this study, the interaction of different concentrations of tannic acid (TA) (10%, 20%, and 30% w/w) and Ca²⁺ with alginate (SA) was utilized to create double-crosslinked SA films. The resulting films were evaluated for their optical, mechanical, water resistance, and barrier properties, and their microstructure and intermolecular interactions were also characterized. The SA films containing 20% TA showed the best mechanical properties, with an observed increase in tensile strength of 22.54%. In terms of water vapor permeability, the SA film containing 30% TA exhibited the highest barrier property, which was 25.36% higher than that of the pure SA film. Moreover, TA demonstrated a strong UV absorption ability, resulting in a nearly 0% UV transmittance of the SA film at 280 nm. It can be seen that SA films containing 20% TA have excellent barrier and mechanical properties, and the development of such films will be applied to the storage and packaging of fresh food. It is worth noting that this work also investigated the effect of SA coatings containing different concentrations of TA on the preservation of passion fruits for 7 days. The results revealed that passion fruits treated with SA coatings containing a 30% TA concentration maintained a better appearance on the 7th day and had the lowest weight loss and crumpling indices of approximately 8.98% and 2.17, respectively, compared to the other treatment groups. Therefore, based on the overall results, the addition of 30% TA to SA coatings proved to be more effective and can be considered a promising approach for delaying fruit senescence and decay. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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13 pages, 1805 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of a Chitosan–Cinnamon Essential Oil Composite Coating in Inhibiting Postharvest Apple Diseases

by Wanli Zhang, Gulden Goksen, Yuanping Zhou, Jun Yang, Mohammad Rizwan Khan, Naushad Ahmad and Tao Fei

Foods 2023, 12(18), 3518; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12183518 - 21 Sep 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1811

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the film-forming properties of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) and chitosan (CS) and the effect of their composite coating on postharvest apple diseases. The results demonstrated that the composite coating exhibits favorable film-forming properties at CEO concentrations below 4% (v/v). The effectiveness of the composite coating in disease control can be attributed to two factors: the direct inhibitory activity of CEO against pathogens in vitro and the induced resistance triggered by CS on the fruits. Importantly, the incorporation of CEO did not interfere with the induction of resistance by CS in harvested apples. However, it is noteworthy that the inhibitory effect of the CS–CEO composite coating on apple diseases diminished over time. Therefore, a key aspect of enhancing the preservation ability of fruits is improving the controlled release properties of CEO within CS coatings. This will enable a sustained and prolonged antimicrobial effect, thereby bolstering the fruit preservation capabilities of the composite coatings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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23 pages, 6005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Effect of Preharvest Melatonin Spraying on Fruit Quality of ‘Yuluxiang’ Pear Based on Principal Component Analysis

by Liangliang Zhao, Shuai Yan, Yufei Wang, Gongxun Xu and Deying Zhao

Foods 2023, 12(18), 3507; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12183507 - 21 Sep 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1731

Abstract

Melatonin (MT), an indoleamine compound, has a pleiotropic effect on plant growth and development and can regulate the quality of tree fruit. Systematic research on the effect of preharvest MT spraying on pear fruit quality and technical solutions for MT application to regulate pear fruit quality are still lacking. Thus, here we aimed to evaluate the effects of different spraying times, concentrations, and exogenous MT application times on ‘Yuluxiang’ pear fruit quality. Our results showed that the single fruit weight and vertical and horizontal diameters of pear fruit sprayed with MT twice at 30 and 90 d after full bloom were the largest, and the red and green values of the treatment were the highest. MT-treated pears had higher contents of total soluble solids, soluble sugar, sucrose, sorbitol, fructose, and glucose and lower contents of titratable acid, malic acid, and citric acid. Moreover, exogenous MT treatment increased the pear peel strength. Based on the principal component analysis of 10 fruit quality indices, the suitable periods for MT spraying on ‘Yuluxiang’ pears were 30 and 90 d after full bloom, the suitable concentration was 100 μmol/L, and the suitable number of times was two. This study provides a theoretical reference for optimizing MT application and improving pear fruit quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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11 pages, 997 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dissipation Behavior and Dietary Risk Assessment of Thiamethoxam, Pyraclostrobin, and Their Metabolites in Home-Style Pickled Cowpea

by Xumi Wang, Huanqi Wu, Kongtan Yang, Nan Fang, Hong Wen, Changpeng Zhang, Xiangyun Wang and Daodong Pan

Foods 2023, 12(18), 3337; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12183337 - 6 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1326

Abstract

In this study, the fate of two pesticides commonly used on cowpeas, thiamethoxam and pyraclostrobin, during the preparation of home-made pickled cowpeas was investigated using an improved QuEChERS method combined with UHPLC-MS/MS. Although pesticide residues were primarily distributed on cowpea samples, some were transferred to brine. The dissipation half-life of thiamethoxam on cowpea samples was significantly shorter than that of pyraclostrobin due to thiamethoxam’s higher water solubility. Thiamethoxam demonstrated a half-life of 5.12 ± 0.66 days, whereas pyraclostrobin exhibited a longer half-life of 71.46 ± 7.87 days. In addition, the degradation half-lives of these two pesticides in the whole system (cowpea and brine) were 45.01 ± 4.99 and 70.51 ± 5.91 days, respectively. This result indicates that the pickling did not effectively promote the degradation of thiamethoxam and pyraclostrobin. The metabolite clothianidin of thiamethoxam was not produced throughout the pickling process, but the metabolite BF 500-3 of pyraclostrobin was detected in cowpea samples. The detection rates for thiamethoxam, pyraclostrobin, and BF 500-3 in the 20 market samples were 10%, 70%, and 45%, respectively. However, the risk quotient analysis indicated that the risk of dietary intake of thiamethoxam and pyraclostrobin in pickled cowpeas by Chinese consumers was negligible. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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14 pages, 2366 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated SlATG5 Mutagenesis Reduces the Resistance of Tomato Fruit to Botrytis cinerea

by Yujing Li, Pan Shu, Lanting Xiang, Jiping Sheng and Lin Shen

Foods 2023, 12(14), 2750; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12142750 - 19 Jul 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1816

Abstract

Tomato fruit is highly susceptible to infection by Botrytis cinerea (B. cinerea), a dominant pathogen, during storage. Recent studies have shown that autophagy is essential for plant defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. Autophagy-related gene 5 (ATG5) plays a key role in autophagosome completion and maturation, and is rapidly induced by B. cinerea, but the potential mechanisms of ATG5 in Solanum lycopersicum (SlATG5) in postharvest tomato fruit resistance to B. cinerea remain unclear. To elucidate the role of SlATG5 in tomato fruit resistant to B. cinerea, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of SlATG5 was used in this study. The results showed that slatg5 mutants were more vulnerable to B. cinerea and exhibited more severe disease symptoms and lower activities of disease-resistant enzymes, such as chitinase (CHI), β-1,3-glucanase (GLU), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), than the wild type (WT). Furthermore, the study observed that after inoculation with B. cinerea, the relative expression levels of genes related to salicylic acid (SA) signaling, such as SlPR1, SlEDS1, SlPAD4, and SlNPR1, were higher in slatg5 mutants than in WT. Conversely, the relative expression levels of jasmonic acid (JA) signaling-related genes SlLoxD and SlMYC2 were lower in slatg5 mutants than in WT. These findings suggested that SlATG5 positively regulated the resistance response of tomato fruit to B. cinerea by inhibiting the SA signaling pathway and activating the JA signaling pathway. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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15 pages, 3410 KiB

Open AccessArticle

ChIP-Seq Analysis of SlAREB1 Downstream Regulatory Network during Tomato Ripening

by Yanan He, Qiong Wu, Chunxiao Cui, Qisheng Tian, Dongdong Zhang and Yurong Zhang

Foods 2023, 12(12), 2357; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12122357 - 13 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1862

Abstract

SlAREB1, a member of the abscisic acid (ABA) response element-binding factors (AREB/ABFs) family, was reported to play a crucial role in the expression of ABA-regulated downstream genes and affect the ripening of tomato fruit. However, the downstream genes of SlAREB1 are still unclear. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a powerful tool and a standard method for studying the interactions between DNA and proteins at the genome-wide level. In the present study, SlAREB1 was proved to continually increase until the mature green stage and then decrease during the ripening period, and a total of 972 gene peaks were identified downstream of SlAREB1 by ChIP-seq analysis, mainly located in the intergenic and promoter regions. Further gene ontology (GO) annotation analysis revealed that the target sequence of SlAREB1 was the most involved in biological function. Kyoto Encylopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that the identified genes were mainly involved in the oxidative phosphorylation and photosynthesis pathways, and some of them were associated with tomato phytohormone synthesis, the cell wall, pigment, and the antioxidant characteristic of the fruit as well. Based on these results, an initial model of SlAREB1 regulation on tomato fruit ripening was constructed, which provided a theoretical basis for further exploring the effects of the regulation mechanism of SlAREB1 and ABA on tomato fruit ripening. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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16 pages, 5250 KiB

Open AccessArticle

GA₃ Treatment Delays the Deterioration of ‘Shixia’ Longan during the On-Tree Preservation and Room-Temperature Storage and Up-Regulates Antioxidants

by Tao Luo, Xiaolan Lin, Tingting Lai, Libing Long, Ziying Lai, Xinxin Du, Xiaomeng Guo, Liang Shuai, Dongmei Han and Zhenxian Wu

Foods 2023, 12(10), 2032; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12102032 - 17 May 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1760

Abstract

Gibberellic acids had been proven to improve the fruit quality and storability by delaying deterioration and maintaining the antioxidant system. In this study, the effect of GA₃ spraying at different concentrations (10, 20, and 50 mg L⁻¹) on the quality of on-tree preserved ‘Shixia’ longan was examined. Only 50 mg L⁻¹ GA₃ significantly delayed the decline of soluble solids (22.0% higher than the control) and resulted in higher total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity in pulp at the later stages. The widely targeted metabolome analysis showed that the treatment reprogrammed secondary metabolites and up-regulated many tannins, phenolic acids, and lignans during the on-tree preservation. More importantly, the preharvest 50 mg L⁻¹ GA₃ spraying (at 85 and 95 days after flowering) led to significantly delayed pericarp browning and aril breakdown, as well as lower pericarp relative conductivity and mass loss at the later stages of room-temperature storage. The treatment also resulted in higher antioxidants in pulp (vitamin C, phenolics, and reduced glutathione) and pericarp (vitamin C, flavonoids, and phenolics). Therefore, preharvest 50 mg L⁻¹ GA₃ spraying is an effective method for maintaining the quality and up-regulating antioxidants of longan fruit during both on-tree preservation and room-temperature storage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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15 pages, 5438 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Preharvest Melatonin on Soft Rot and Quality of Kiwifruit Based on Principal Component Analysis

by Junsen Peng, Shouliang Zhu, Xin Lin, Xuan Wan, Qin Zhang, Alagie Njie, Dengcan Luo, Youhua Long, Rong Fan and Xiaoqing Dong

Foods 2023, 12(7), 1414; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12071414 - 27 Mar 2023

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1931

Abstract

Botryosphaeria dothidea is the source of the deadly kiwifruit disease known as soft rot. In order to explore the role of melatonin in regulating the postharvest quality and disease resistance of kiwifruit at different growth and development stages, in this study, we applied melatonin at different concentrations to kiwifruit at the young fruit, expansion, and late expansion stages to assess its effect on fruit resistance to B. dothidea, minimize soft rot, and maintain postharvest fruit quality. The results showed that melatonin significantly suppressed the mycelial growth of B. dothidea, with 1.0 mmol/L melatonin inhibiting it by up to 50%. However, 0.1–0.3 mmol/L melatonin had the best control over soft rot. Furthermore, spraying MT during kiwifruit growth can successfully increase fruit weight; preserve postharvest fruit firmness; reduce respiration intensity in the early stages of storage; delay the rise in soluble solids, while maintaining a high titratable acid content to ensure suitable solid acid ratio; increase total phenol, flavonoid, chlorophyll, carotenoid, and ascorbic acid contents; and delay the rise in soluble sugar contents in the late stages of storage. These results have a positive effect on maintaining the nutritional composition of kiwifruit. However, the effects on weight loss, dry matter content, and soluble protein content were not significant. In addition, the results of the principal component analysis demonstrated that 0.3 mmol/L MT increased kiwifruit’s resistance to soft rot while preserving postharvest fruit quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances of Disease Control, Preservation, Quality and Safety Control of Fruits and Vegetables)

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