Technology applied to fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and its influence on the use of packaging material

Abstract

The preservation methods most commonly used to date to maintain the quality of fresh-cut vegetable products are low temperatures and modified atmosphere packaging, which maintains their sensory, nutritional and microbial quality for a longer period of time. In Ecuador, there are about 25 pre-prepared convenience food products marketed, 60% of which are mixtures for soups and salads, both fruit and vegetable. The cost of these products is higher than whole products and they are marketed mainly in urban areas, in supermarkets, hotels and catering services, they proposed a food program called "five a day" (five types of fruits and/or vegetables a day). This work aims to specify the different technologies applicable to fourth range products, to specify the type of packaging materials used for fourth range products and to explain the microorganisms that affect minimally processed products and finally to detail the advantages and disadvantages of fourth range products. The technologies applied to fruits and vegetables are used before they are pre-packaged; contaminated materials grow in an intrinsic and extrinsic environment. The advantages are that it extends its shelf life having a durability of up to 400% and its disadvantages is to control temperatures during storage, it does not allow the acceptance to consumers due to the action of irradiation, physical and chemical changes that are generated during the treatment of food.