Microbiological food safety considerations in shelf-life extension of fresh fruits and vegetables

ElsevierVolume 80, April 2023, 102895Current Opinion in BiotechnologyAuthor links open overlay panel

There are a number of opportunities for reducing loss and waste, and extending shelf life of fresh produce that go beyond cold chain optimization. For example, plant genotype (including ripening-related genes), presence of phytopathogens, maturity at harvest, and environmental conditions close to the harvest time, storage conditions, and postharvest treatments (washing, cutting, and waxing) all impact both shelf life of produce and food safety outcomes. Therefore, loss can be reduced and shelf life of fresh produce can be extended with plant breeding to manipulate ripening-related traits, or with pre- and postharvest treatments delaying senescence and decay. Food safety considerations of these applications are discussed.

Introduction

Extension of shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables presents two partially overlapping microbiological challenges: first, spoilage (due to physiological processes within the product and/or microbial activity); and, second, human pathogens that can be introduced at any point in the production cycle and then multiply under permissive conditions, thus impacting food safety outcomes. The presence of spoilage microbes is a well-documented risk factor for the proliferation of human pathogens on plants, and tools for extension of produce shelf life (such as ripeness at harvest, ethylene treatment, and waxing) may also have food safety implications. This review focuses on the intersectionality of approaches for reducing postharvest quality loss and microbiological safety of produce.

Section snippetsSources and prevalence of human pathogens in fresh produce

Outbreaks of diseases caused by nontyphoidal strains of Salmonella, pathogenic E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter jejuni, Norovirus and Hepatitis A have been linked to the consumption of fresh or fresh-cut produce 1, 2, 3, however, sources and environmental persistence of these pathogens have distinct features. For example, L. monocytogenes is commonly considered to be a soil resident, while animals are almost certainly sources of Salmonella, E. coli, and C. jejuni in the crop

Persistence, multiplication of human pathogens on crops along the supply chain

It may appear that there is a correlation between types of produce and pathogens that cause outbreaks associated with it ([7], Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Foodborne Outbreaks. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/lists/outbreaks-list.html). Nevertheless, under laboratory conditions, Salmonella and E. coli can colonize a diversity of fresh produce [8]. One of the likely explanations of this discrepancy is the pre- and postharvest production practices associated with different

Fruit maturity and growth of human pathogens, implications for shelf life

With a few notable exceptions, fruits (including those retailed as ‘vegetables’) are desired by consumers at the peak of ripeness. However, harvesting fruit at advanced ripening stages may present additional food safety risks. While — under most conditions — ripeness at harvest did not have a significant impact on Salmonella or EHEC proliferation on blueberries or strawberries harvested at two stages of ripeness [25], in ripe tomatoes and peppers, Salmonella reached numbers that were on average

Postharvest decay as a food safety risk factor

In the late 90s, retail surveys indicated that human bacterial pathogens are more likely to be found in blemished produce, and this likelihood was even higher in produce impacted by bacterial phytopathogens (compared with mechanically damaged produce, or produce with fungal rots) 31, 32. In follow-up laboratory studies, within plant tissues damaged by soft-rot bacteria, Salmonella and pathogenic E. coli reached populations that were at least 10 times higher than in intact tissue 33, 34, 35. The

Fruit waxing and its implications for food safety

The cuticular membrane, including a natural wax layer, is the first barrier between plants and the environment [41]. The cuticular membrane or the cuticular wax layer plays critical roles in protecting fruits’ integrity and maintaining the postharvest quality of fruits [42]. The natural wax is generally composed of very-long-chain fatty acids and their derivatives, such as aldehydes, alkanes, ketones, esters, and low-molecular-weight secondary metabolites [43].

The wax content of fresh produce

Conclusions and further perspectives

Maintaining microbiological food safety is a critical component in strategies for reducing food loss and waste, and extending shelf life. While temperature abuse of foods (including fresh produce) has long been known as a food safety risk factor [54], which could be mitigated by optimizing cold chain, efforts must be directed at ensuring that packaging and coatings designed to extend shelf life do not inadvertently jeopardize food safety. Strategies to meet consumer expectations for fresh

Conflict of interest statement

Nothing declared.

Acknowledgements and funding sources

This work is supported by Foundational and Applied Science Program [Grant no. 2020-67017-30793/project accession no. 1021778] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and a Grant no. 2022-xxxxx from USDA Climate Smart Pilot program.

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