Post Harvest Preparation for Market

After harvesting, fruits and vegetables go through a series of processes to prepare them for market, including:

CuringRoots, tubers, and bulb crops are cured to extend their shelf life. This involves applying high temperatures and humidity to heal the skins that were damaged during harvesting.
Preliminary treatmentsFruits and vegetables are cleaned, disinfected, waxed, and sometimes colored or stamped with a brand name.
CoolingCooling methods like forced-air cooling are used to extend shelf life and maintain quality. Forced-air cooling is faster than room cooling and reduces water loss.
StorageFruits and vegetables are stored in an environment that maintains their quality.
PackagingThe produce is packaged.

Other processes that are part of post-harvest handling include: sorting, grading, washing, and transportation.

Post-harvest handling is important because fruits and vegetables are fragile and perishable. Poor handling can lead to losses, lower market prices, and a diminished reputation for the production area.

In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. The instant a crop is removed from the ground, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate.

Postharvest processing (e.g., washing) is an important intervention for decontamination of the surfaces of fresh fruits and vegetables; however, water used for washing may also pose a risk for additional contamination.

Fresh produce continues to lose water after harvest, but unlike the growing plant it can no longer replace lost water from the soil and so must use up its water content remaining at harvest. This loss of water from fresh produce after harvest is a serious problem, causing shrinkage and loss of weight.

One of the most vital post-harvest tasks is removing the old plants from the plot. Summer annuals like zucchini and tomatoes just can’t stand the cold and won’t last through the winter, so it’s best to take them out of the ground as soon as they stop producing.

It includes various unit operations or stages after harvesting for preservation, conservation, subsequent processing, packaging, storage, distribution, marketing, until it is ready for final consumption.

Handling practices like harvesting, precooling, cleaning and disinfecting, sorting and grading, packaging, storing, and transportation played an important role in maintaining quality and extending shelf life

Postharvest treatment by physical, chemical or biological control methods is the process inhibiting respiration, reducing pathogenic microorganisms and enhancing resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.

After harvesting, fruits and vegetables must be washed and cleaned thoroughly to eliminate dirt and pesticide residue in preparation for processing. Ensuring food items are sanitized and as microbe-free as possible is vital to maintaining food safety for the consumer.

Freezing is a widely known and applied preservation process of various foods which offers the advantage of producing high-quality nutritious foods with prolonged shelf life. Freezing has also been described as one of the best methods used in preserving foods such as fruits and vegetables.

A fruit and vegetable processing unit at a farm typically involves primary processing operations such as:

WashingFruits and vegetables are washed before most other steps, except for onions and cabbages.
SortingRipe fruits are separated from underripe fruits, and damaged parts are removed.
PeelingPeeling makes it easier to cut the fruit or vegetable into slices or pieces.
CuttingSlices should be the same thickness so they dry in the same amount of time.

Other processing operations include: trimming, grading, surface drying, and packaging.

Some equipment used in fruit and vegetable processing includes:

Dicing, slicing, and grating machines
Washing, peeling, and polishing machines
Mixing machines
Packing and filling machines
Juicing machines
Dehydration and dryer machines

It’s important to process fruits and vegetables as soon as possible after harvesting to prevent deterioration. A processing unit should be able to handle a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as dried or dehydrated products, juices, pickles, jams, jellies, and marmalades.

Postharvest treatment is very important for facilitating national and international trade of horticultural commodities. These treatments have increased significantly over the last few years because horticultural crops help to increase trade and restrict the use of fumigants in horticultural crops. A number of deficiencies currently exist in the postharvest management and processing of fruits and vegetables in India. Action must be taken in order to upgrade systems to reduce the levels of postharvest losses in India. Presence of pests in horticultural foodstuffs has been the center of attention of many procedures and treatments to prevent continuous damage to the foodstuffs or accidental movement of pests from one area to another. The use of chemicals in postharvest management are harmful to environment as well as human body. Therefore, it is desirable to explore some alternative methods that are more environmentally safe and have no impact on human health.

Postharvest Treatments

In order to add convenience to vegetables and other agricultural products, centralized cleaning, peeling, and cutting is common. The resulting products are often less stable after the treatment, due to enzymatic activity of cut cell walls and bacteriological contamination from the handling. Various postharvest treatment methods are employed to add biological stability and extend shelf-life. Chlorinated cleaning water is used. Soaking in solutions of reducing agents such as ascorbic acid or sulfite or preservatives such as sorbate or benzoate are used. Also, divalent ions, Ca²⁺, are used to strengthen the texture. In all these treatments low temperature and good processing hygiene are essential to achieve the desired shelf-life, as treatments such as cutting instead reduce the shelf-life.

PREPARATION FOR FRESH FRUIT MARKET

Milind S. Ladaniya, in Citrus Fruit, 2008

Publisher Summary

Postharvest treatments are applied to citrus fruits before storage in order to delay senescence, minimize spoilage, and improve appearance and marketability. This chapter focuses on the preparation methods for the fresh fruit market through the implementation of commonly used postharvest treatments such as degreening, curing, wax coating, application of growth regulators, and packing-line operations with a focus on packinghouse activities. Degreening is a process employed mainly to improve color. Applications of surface coatings, fungicides, and other chemicals are common before fruits are marketed or stored under ambient or refrigerated conditions. These treatments are also effective in reducing chilling injury in refrigerated storage. Plant growth regulators are used to delay aging/senescence and various fungistats are used to control rots. Gamma radiations are used to reduce microbial spoilage or disinfest the fruits with fruit flies. These are supplemental treatments and cannot substitute refrigeration for long-term storage. Pre-cooling is done before fruits are stored under refrigerated conditions. Safer and more effective supplementary treatments are being developed throughout the world.

Lenticels on mango fruit: Origin, development, discoloration and prevention of their discoloration

H. Rymbai, … S.K. Singh, in Scientia Horticulturae, 2012

4.3 Postharvest handling

After harvest, inadequate handling or postharvest treatments especially when sap or latex is in contact with the skin, has shown to increase LD. Postharvest treatment include dipping fruit in hot water at 45 °C for 30 min (Jacobi et al., 2001); at 46 °C for 120 min in ‘Tommy Atkins’ (Mitcham and Yahia, 2009), a combination of hot water and hot air (Jacobi et al., 1996); washing fruit in one or several disinfectants or soap including Agral^®, Cold Power^® or Mango Wash^® (Bally et al., 1997); or washing fruit in ambient water (O’Hare et al., 1996) were shown to increase LD. In ‘Tommy Atkins’ postharvest handling increases lenticel spotting in a cumulative way and both red and black lenticel spotting were caused principally by washing fruit in a calcium hydroxide solution to prevent sap burn (Simão de Assis et al., 2009). In the same study they suggested that black lenticel spotting occurs principally through physical processes involving the entry of water into the lenticel and the subsequent collapse and discoloration of sub-lenticellular cells. In contrast, red lenticel spotting is a physiological process involving anthocyanin production in response to low temperature in which water entry to the lenticel plays a great role (Simão de Assis et al., 2009).

Improvement of the antioxidant status of tropical fruits as a secondary response to some postharvest treatments

Gustavo A. Gonzalez-Aguilar, … Elhadi M. Yahia, in Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2010

Tropical fruits production, trade and consumption have increased significantly due to their attractive sensory and nutrimental properties; nevertheless, their highly perishable nature limits their postharvest life. Postharvest treatments have been used to preserve quality of fresh produce and have been focused mainly on preserving freshness and avoid microbial growth. However, an improvement on the antioxidant system as a secondary response under certain adverse environmental and stress conditions has been observed, including some types of stress used as postharvest treatments. This review focuses on analyzing and proposing some possible mechanisms induced by postharvest treatments affecting the antioxidant status of treated tropical fruits.

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Nutritional Quality of Fruits and Vegetables

Ariel R. Vincente, … Carlos H. Crisosto, in Postharvest Handling (Third Edition), 2014

Postharvest practices

Postharvest treatments with minerals, primarily calcium, can increase the storage life and quality of some fruits and vegetables. In the last decade, the industry has been encouraged to fortify food and beverages with calcium. Increasing the calcium concentration of horticultural crops gives consumers new ways to enhance calcium intake without supplements. In addition, phosphorous-free sources of calcium can help provide a good balance of dietary calcium and phosphorus (Martín-Diana et al., 2007).

There are two primary ways to apply postharvest calcium to horticultural crops: (1) dipping-washing, and (2) impregnation (Martín-Diana et al., 2007). Immersion treatments are used for fresh, sensitive products like leafy vegetables. The delicate texture of berries does not withstand vacuum infiltration, so dips in CaCl₂ solution are performed (García et al., 1996), followed by the removal of excess solution. Impregnation modifies the composition of food through partial water removal and replacement with solutes, without damaging integrity. The driving forces can be an osmotic gradient between sample and solution, application of vacuum followed by normal atmospheric pressure, or both. CaCl₂ is widely used as a firming agent and preservative for whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables (see also Chapter 10). Mineral concentrations were similar in fresh, canned and frozen fruit and vegetable products; this is expected, since these nutrients are inert and thus not sensitive to degradation by the thermal processes used in food preservation.

Contributing factors to quality of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruit

Muneeba Zubair Alam, … Afaf Kamal-Eldin, in Scientia Horticulturae, 2023

4.3 Postharvest treatments

Dates are harvested at three different stages Khalal, Rutab, and Tamr depending on the cultivar and preference of consumers. Proper harvesting and postharvest treatments affect quality parameters, such as appearance and texture, thus influencing the sales price and postharvest life of the fruit. Postharvest technologies provide adequate conditions for preserving date fruit consumption characteristics. Dates ripen at different times; therefore, picking is commonly performed for several weeks. After harvesting, fruits are sorted, cleaned, graded, dried, cooled, packed, and stored. The cleaning process consists of removing dust, insects, and other biological materials, non-edible parts of the plants, and chemical products gently to avoid damaging the fruit. Fumigation, heat disinfection, ozone treatment, irradiation (gamma rays, electron beams, or UV light), and electrolyzed water are examples of disinfection treatment alternatives; however, brushing, and pressurized air are the most commonly used cleaning techniques (Sarraf et al., 2021). Dehydration can be performed by solar radiation and hot air steam (60–65 °C for 4 to 8 h). For appropriate quality preservation during storage, the dehydration process aims to achieve lowering the moisture content to 23–25% (Yahia and Kader, 2011). Before storage and shipping, the fruits are cooled, and residual moisture from the surface is removed to ensure minimal negative physiological changes such as sugar crystallization, skin tears, texture and color changes, microbiological growth, and insect infestation (Serratosa et al., 2008). The market demands high-quality fruits with high moisture content; therefore, different methods are applied to preserve the quality aspects of date fruits during storage and shipping. Modified atmosphere packaging and edible coatings are helpful techniques for controlling undesirable changes, preventing infestation of insects, the incidence of mold and yeast microbiological spoilage, water loss, sugaring spots, color, texture, and flavor changes (Siddiq and Greiby, 2013). The use of a high CO₂ atmosphere during storage has shown a significant impact on delaying color changes and crystallization, extending shelf life (Dehghan-Shoar et al., 2010).

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Seaweed extracts-treated food and their benefits for shelf life and animal/human consumption

Di Fan, Alan T. Critchley, in Applications of Seaweeds in Food and Nutrition, 2024

Postharvest applications

Postharvest treatment has been widely used to extend the shelf life of food products. The use of edible coatings on food can be dated back to the 12th century in China. Different coatings have been used to prevent postharvest losses and sustain the quality of food products (Hassan et al., 2018). Through dipping, immersion, and coating with a film-forming solution made from edible materials, a thin layer is formed directly on the food surface, acting as a structural matrix. Considering the extensive data highlighting the functional properties of seaweeds, the effects of postharvest handling—(i.e., coating, dipping, and mixing) with SWE on fresh fruits, vegetables, bakery, and meat and dairy products in regards to nutritional, sensory, and storage properties are discussed in this section.

Fruit and vegetables

Many bioactive metabolites of seaweeds, such as polysaccharides, sterols, and terpenes, have antagonistic activities against pathogenetic microbes (Arunkumar et al., 2010; Machado et al., 2014; Paulert et al., 2009; Salim et al., 2020; Silva et al., 2018). Direct application of SWE on crop plants can either endogenously or exogenously induce resistance to microbial diseases during growth (Melo et al., 1997). Postharvest treatments of SWE on fresh fruits and vegetables, can be dated back to the late 1960s (Blunden et al., 1978), and have also been shown to be associated with resistance against postharvest deterioration, thus prolonging produce storability. SWE applications, mainly administered by dipping and coating fruit and vegetables, help to reduce deterioration and retain nutritional content based on the properties of their activities as antioxidants and phytohormone-like molecules and provide a selective barrier.

Blunden et al. (1978) immersed fruit and vegetables in different concentrations of SWEs having different final cytokinin activities and demonstrated that the optimum SWE (cytokinin) concentration varied among the tested fruit and vegetables for their rates of ripening and color changes. Apparently, SWEs can substitute for synthetic chemical products, e.g., cytokinins, in increasing the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables, but the stage of maturity, at the time of treatment, immersion duration, and the best concentration range of SWE for each of the species/varieties have to be determined. Application of SWE from the green alga Codium tomentosum, via dipping, improved storage quality by lowering the browning rate in fresh-cut apples and puree, possibly due to the inhibited activities of enzymes, polyphenoloxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD), that are involved in the enzymatic browning processes, after cutting and while in cold storage (Augusto et al., 2016). Melo et al. (2018) highlighted the beneficial effects of postharvest immersion with ANE solution on the shelf-life of mangoes (Melo et al., 2018). The authors suggested that direct applications of ANE in the postharvest treatment of mangoes reduced weight loss due to suppressed respiratory activity and increased enzymatic activity in the fruit and delayed color angle decrease and titratable acidity reduction due to retardation of organ senescence upon maturation. SWE coating might also form a physical barrier, preventing water loss, and changing gas exchange between produce and the environment in order to slow down enzymatic oxidation, thus resulting in weight and texture retainment and protection from brown discoloration. There has been some research on postharvest applications of SWE to manage microbial diseases in plant products. ANE, at the rate of 40 mL L⁻¹, significantly inhibited Rhizopus stolonifera growth in vitro (Paiva et al., 2020). The authors assumed that this might occur due to substances involved in a defense mechanism produced by the seaweed while growing under extreme environmental conditions. The same concentration of ANE could also control soft rot in strawberries in vivo, without any interference in color, firmness, titratable acidity, and total sugars of the fruits. Hence, ANE seemed to be a promising tool for postharvest management of fungal diseases. Soaking kiwifruit with alginate derivatives (originating from brown seaweed cell walls) lowered the incidence of gray mold and improved total antioxidant capacity (Zhuo et al., 2022). Increased antioxidant activity could facilitate the reduction of lipid oxidation, a major cause of food deterioration during postharvest storage (Thitilertdecha et al., 2008). It is worth noticing that alginate oligosaccharide (AO) did not inhibit the in vitro growth of the fungal pathogen (B. cinerea) while ANE did (Paiva et al., 2020). The authors confirmed this positive improvement in microbial decay, with the results showing that activities of enzymes related to pathogen defense were raised compared to control kiwi fruits, indicating that plant immune response was modulated by seaweed extract derivatives (Khan et al., 2009). Moreover, AO treatment suppressed the activities of polygalacturonase (PG) and pectinesterase (PE), which mainly function in digesting pectin into pectic acid, leading to the retention of firmness in the kiwifruit during postharvest storage. It was very interesting that, for the first time, when combined with a half dose of fungicide and plant extracts from alfalfa and sugarcane, ANE was demonstrated to be effective, not only in suppressing the incidence and severity of green mold caused by Penicillium digitatum, but also in reducing fungicide resides in oranges (La Spada et al., 2021). It seems that the plant immune system was stimulated by the mixture containing ANE in that expression of β-1,3-glucanase-, PEROX-, and PAL-encoding genes involved in the synthesis of antimicrobial molecules was significantly up-regulated 24 h after treatment. The authors deduced that this ANE-containing mixture might trigger plant response changes either physiologically, transcriptionally, or metabolically, leading to enhanced stress tolerance. The mechanisms determining the reduction of fungal growth and fungicide residues in oranges treated with the mixture containing ANE deserve further investigation, as the use of SWEs, in combination with other biostimulants and/or synthetic chemicals, offers promising practical alternatives to conventional postharvest management. Some research has shown that direct antimicrobial activity exerted by some SWEs could be attributed to fatty acid components (De Corato et al., 2017) as well as phenolic compounds (De Corato et al., 2018), while other ingredients such as fucoidans and alginates could contribute to the induction of resistance (Zhuo et al., 2022). In brief, applications of various SWEs on a postharvest basis are not only useful in preventing losses of nutritional values, but they can also reduce the decline in visual quality and prevent microbial rotting. Table 9.2 presents some examples of the direct administration of selected SWEs on postharvest fruit and vegetables.

Table 9.2. Application of SWEs postharvest to improve the quality of fruits and vegetables during storage.

Extract applied	Crop	Method	Effect	References
Codium tomentosum extract	Fuji apple slices	Dipping	Decreased browning index in apple slices at 4°C over 20 days or room temperature for 90 min	Augusto et al. (2016)
Extracts of Cystoseira tamariscifolia and Bifurcaria bifurcata	Tomatoes	Dipping	Controlled gray mold decay of tomato fruit at 15 to 18°C after 15 days	Bahammou et al. (2017)
SM3 and Marinure	Bananas, limes, mangoes, and capsicums	Immersion	Increased rate of ripening (bananas and mangoes) and shelf-life (capsicums) or retardation of color change in limes	Blunden et al. (1978)
Extracts of L. digitata, U. pinnatifida, and Porphyra umbilicalis	Fragaria × ananassa, Prunus persica, and Citrus limon	Drop inoculation over artificial wound	Suppressed disease development (gray mold on strawberries, brown rot on peaches, and green mold on lemons) at 20°C after 3 to 5 days	De Corato et al. (2017)
L. digitata	Strawberries “Camarosa”	Immersion	Inhibited fruit Rhizopus rot and reduced decline in peroxidase activity at 20 ± 2°C	De Corato et al. (2018)
A. nodosum extract (mixed with plant derivatives and half-doses of IMZ-S)	Citrus sinensis “Moro nucellare”	Drop inoculation over artificial wound	Lowered green mold incidence and severity, reduced fungicide residues, and increased expression levels of genes involved in the synthesis of antagonistic molecules at 20°C up to 5 days	La Spada et al. (2021)
Carrageenan	Apple slices	Coating	Retained color and reduced melanosis at 3°C after 14 days	Lee et al. (2003)
Biomar®	Pyrus communis “Beurre`e d’Anjou”	Immersion	Preventive effect against Alternaria alternata after 60 days of storage at −1/0°C	Lutz et al. (2022)
A. nodosum extract	Oranges “Valencia”	Immersion	Promoted reduction in green mold incidence and severity 25°C after 7 days	Mafra et al. (2020)
Acadian®	Mangifera indica “Tommy Atkins”	Immersion	Reduced decline in fresh mass, firmness, pulp color angle, and titratable acidity at 25°C after 12 days	Melo et al. (2018)
Carrageenan (mixed with glycerol and water)	Allium cepa	Coating	Lowered respiration rates at 15°C and 28°C after 15 days	Wibisono and Bintoro (2021)
Algifert	Phoenix dactylifera	Dipping	Reduced weight loss, higher value of soluble solids, sugar and ascorbic acid content at 3°C	Omar (2008)
ALGA600	Citrus sinensis “Osbeck”	Dipping	Suppressed fruit rot and reduced decreases in weight, soluble solids content, total sugars and reducing sugars at 21°C after 45 days or at 7°C after 75 days	Omar (2014)
A. nodosum extract	Strawberries “Camarosa”	Immersion	Reduced postharvest soft-rot development at 25°C	Paiva et al. (2020)
U. flexuosa	Washington navel oranges	Dipping	Increased antioxidant activity and reduced fruit decay and losses of fresh weight and fruit juice, at 5°C after 60 days	Rezaei et al. (2019)
Algamare®	Prunus salicina “Irati”	Immersion	Reduced decreases of titratable acidity and total phenolics in the cv. Irati and suppressed incidence and severity of brown rot disease in the cv. Reubennel at 2.5°C ± 2.0°C after 15 days	Viencz et al. (2020)
Alginate oligosaccharide	Actinidia deliciosa “Bruno”	Soaking	Alleviated loss of firmness, suppressed activities of polygalacturonase and pectinesterase, improved total antioxidant capacity, and increased activities of polyphenoloxidase, l-phenylalanine ammonia lyase and β-1,3-glucanase at 25°C over 96 h	Zhuo et al. (2022)

Meat/seafood

SWEs have been used to boost crop growth and nutrient values as well as improve animal nutrition, health, and productivity. Direct applications of various SWEs could also enhance the shelf life of fresh fruit and vegetables. During postharvest storage, perishable meat/marine produce should have minimized contamination and tissue peroxidation, retained moisture, had relatively high nutritional value, and attractive color, texture, as well as flavor to ensure the acceptability of the product before and after human consumption. SWEs, known as “superfoods,” are rich in natural bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, antioxidative, and antiinflammatory properties. These could be excellent options for controlling postharvest quality of meat and marine products in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. Besides, incorporation of various SWEs would benefit from all the other advantageous features since they are high in vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, carotenoids, tocopherols, proteins, etc., making “functional foods” possible (Cofrades et al., 2017). The chewiness and firmness of meat structure can be enhanced by improvement of water and fat-binding properties by the addition of various dietary seaweeds. For minimally processed, ready-to-eat seafood, Pangasius fillets were dipped in an aqueous SWE prepared using the brown seaweed Padina tetrastromatica (Deepitha et al., 2021a), and was found to lower the increase rates in pH, total volatile base nitrogen values, free fatty acids, and lipid peroxidation. The observations were made on fillets on ice during a 20-day storage period, indicating that antioxidant components such as phenolics present in the Padina extract might delay bacterial activities-associated alkaline compound formation as well as lipid peroxidation (Maqsood and Benjakul, 2010). Polysiphonia fucoides 50% ethanolic extract (P50E) was added to minced fillets of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) with a final concentration of 0.5 g kg⁻¹. This treatment provided retardation in lipid oxidation (i.e., the lowest volatile secondary oxidation products) and protein oxidation (i.e., decreased protein carbonyls), probably owing to the high antioxidant activity imposed by the high content of phenolic compounds such as caffeic acid and phlorotannins in P50E (Babakhani et al., 2015). Moreover, this treatment significantly increased the surface redness of the mince during storage at 5°C for 8 days. This indicated that P50E prevented the oxidation of oxymyoglobin and heme proteins in the muscle, which normally oxidize to brown. Preliminary sensory analysis showed P50E was associated with the lowest level of rancid odor, which correlated well with lipid and protein oxidation parameters. Further studies on the interaction of phenolic compounds in selected SWEs on cellular constituents in fish meat, as well as larger sensory panels, are needed.

It is worth noting that Fucus vesiculosus (F. vesiculosus) extract (brown seaweed, FVE), high in polyphenols, did not perform well in inhibiting postharvest oxidation in pork patties (Agregan et al., 2019). Therefore, further research should explore the possibility of incorporation of FVE with other control agents. While adding sulfated polysaccharides of L. digitata to minced muscle samples prevented lipid oxidation in homogenized LTL pork meat (Moroney, O’Grady, Lordan, et al., 2015). Balti and his colleagues reported that an exopolysaccharide (EPS) coating containing polyphenol extract from the red seaweed Gracilaria gracilis (RSE) decreased PPO activity constantly throughout the storage period at 4°C, resulting in excellent retainment of color and sensory quality in white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). Moreover, this treatment lessened lipid oxidation, an important quality parameter for seafood oils, and pH value, an indicator for the freshness of marine organisms (Balti et al., 2020). S. horneri extract was reported to enhance sensory properties (i.e., color, texture, and odor) and reduce tissue oxidation in white leg shrimp; shelf-life was extended to 8 days at 4°C (Fang et al., 2021).

For extensively processed meat and seafood, Jannat-Alipour et al. (2019) incorporated U. intestinalis powder (Tsw) and its sulfated polysaccharide (ulvan, Tsp) into silver carp surimi, followed by battering, breading, and predeep frying. Tsp caused a higher cooking yield than did Tsw and the control (Jannat-Alipour et al., 2019), with no obvious trend in any treatments, which is in harmony with previous research in which L. digitata polysaccharides increased the cooking yield of readily processed pork patties (Moroney et al., 2013). Laminaria (Saccharina) japonica powder decreased the cooking loss of pork patties; the greater the proportion that is dietary fiber, the higher the cooking yield. Thus, improvements in cooking performance might be due to differences in the dietary composition of SWE. A similar result was also obtained from semidried chicken sausages, in which L. japonica extract, in combination with transglutaminase, significantly increased moisture and ash contents and water activity and performed well in sensory trials (Choi et al., 2016).

Raw and processed meat and marine foods are prone to microbial contamination and are potential sources of food-borne pathogens (Coma, 2008). Dipping and coating with edible SWEs carrying antimicrobials is a useful tool for microbial control, either physically or biochemically, resulting in reduced microbial deterioration and an extended shelf life. The levels of polyphenols are high in some SWEs, and they have been shown to disrupt the microbial cell wall, denature enzymes, and thus lead to microbial cell death (Khalafalla et al., 2015). Padina extract reduced the total bacterial count in pangasius fillets throughout the chilled storage, up to 20 days (Deepitha et al., 2021a). Balti et al. (2020) evaluated the application of an EPS coating with SWE on fresh whole white shrimp and observed a substantial inhibition of total viable bacteria, psychrotrophic bacteria, and Enterobacteriaceae counts. Polysaccharides originated from seaweed are highly utilized in food enterprises credited to their great physico-chemical properties, e.g., stabilizing and gelling capacities, antioxidant activity, and barrier for food deterioration. With high hydration levels and barrier properties, alginates and carrageenans are among the most utilized polysaccharides from seaweeds in the packing, filming, coating, and blending of meat and marine products for shelf-life extension (Hassan et al., 2018). In addition, seaweed polysaccharides have been often incorporated with other antioxidants, such as EOs and plant extracts (Hamedi et al., 2017; Ho et al., 1995; Rao et al., 2017).

NaCl plays a crucial role in meat processing; it can influence water holding capacity and delay the spoilage of meat products (Inguglia et al., 2017). Meat contains high levels of saturated fatty acids, e.g., palmitic and stearic acids, which have negative impacts on human health (Santos et al., 2020). There remains great potential that some SWEs can be used as salt and fat replacers in formulated meat products for not only prolonging shelf-life but also improving taste and health properties (Fellendorf et al., 2016; Gullón et al., 2021). In meat and seafood, while intrinsic food attributes (e.g., pH, color, lipid profile, moisture, oxidative metabolites, flavor, and microflora) and other extrinsic factors (e.g., storage temperature and packaging material) are all indispensable in the evaluation of food durability, only intrinsic parameters upon SWE treatment were discussed and summarized here. Table 9.3 presents the main features of postharvest application of SWE to contrast storage losses in meat and marine products. Dipping, mixing, and coating with edible SWE containing antioxidant and antimicrobial characteristics has become increasingly intriguing in the preservation and improvement of meat, poultry, and seafood, either fresh, frozen, or processed, due to their effectiveness, both physically and biochemically, resulting in better maintenance of food quality with delayed chemical and microbial degradation and increased sensory and antioxidant characteristics (Devlieghere et al., 2004).

Table 9.3. Summary of current postharvest applications of various SWE (some microalgal) to extend the shelf-life of meat and seafood during storage.

Seaweed	Meat product	Method	Main function	Reference
Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus vesiculosus and Bifurcaria bifurcata extracts	Pork liver pâté	Mixing	Reduce lipid oxidation	Agregán et al. (2018)
Himanthalia elongata extract	Fish burgers	Coating	Reduce lipid oxidation and enhance antioxidant capacity	Albertos et al. (2019)
Hypnea musciformis and Acanthophora muscoides extract	Black tiger shrimp	Soaking	Reduce oxidation and biogenic amines formation; increase shelf life	Arulkumar et al. (2020)
Polysiphonia fucoides (50% ethanolic extract)	Minced mackerel	Mixing	Retard lipid and protein oxidation	Babakhani et al. (2015)
Gracilaria gracilis extract (with Porphyridium cruentum exopolysaccharides)	Whole white shrimp	Coating	Inhibit bacterial growth and psychrotrophic bacteria counts; improve oxidative stability	Balti et al. (2020a)
Palmaria palmata extract	Ham	Mixing	Reduce NaCl content and positively affect sensory attributes	Barbieri et al. (2016)
Sulfated exo-polysaccharide (from Porphyridium cruentum)	Minced beef	Mixing	Reduce psychrophilic bacteria and extend shelf-life	Ben Hlima et al. (2021)
Laminaria japonica	Reduced-fat pock patties	Mixing	Increase sensory attributes	Choi et al. (2012)
Undaria pinnatifida	Pork meat batter	Mixing	Increase hardness and chewiness of the cooked product	Cofrades et al. (2008)
Himanthalia elongata	Beef patties	Mixing	Reduce microbial counts, lipid oxidation and cooking loss; increase dietary fiber, antioxidative activity and consumer acceptability	Cox and Abu-Ghannam (2013a)
Porphyra tetrastromatica extract	Pangasius fillets	Mixing	Reduce lipid oxidation, improve meat color and extend shelf life	Deepitha et al. (2021a)
Sodium alginate (with galbanum oleo-resin gum and Ziziphora essential oil)	Chicken fillets	Coating	Decreased bacterial growth and increased shelf life	Hamedi et al. (2017)
Polysaccharide (from Ulva intestinalis)	Fish surimi restructured product	Mixing	Improve sensory properties and extend shelf life	Jannat-Alipour et al. (2019)
Alginate (with sodium lactate and potassium sorbate)	Poached and processed deli Turkey	Coating	Postpone Listeria monocytogenes growth	Juck et al. (2010)
H. elongata	Frankfurt sausages	Mixing	Improve water-fat binding properties and increase the hardness and chewiness	Lopez-Lopez et al. (2009)
U. pinnatifida	Beef patties	Mixing	Reduce cooking losses and increase mineral contents	López-López et al. (2010)
Arthrospira platensis extract	Chinese-style pork sausage	Mixing	Inhibit lipid oxidation and maintain physical and sensory qualities	Luo et al. (2018)
Laminaria digitata	Minced pork patties	Mixing	Decreased lipid oxidation and increased antioxidant capacity;	Moroney et al. (2013)
Alginate (with antimicrobials)	Cold-smoked salmon slices and fillets	Coating	Inhibit growth of L. monocytogenes	Neetoo et al. (2010)
Haematococcus pluvialis extract (rich in astaxanthin)	Ground pork meat	Mixing	Delay lipid oxidation and improve color stability	Pogorzelska et al. (2018)
Sodium alginate-agar	Beef slices	Coating	Reduce oxidation and microbial population	Zhang et al. (2021)

Milk and dairy products

Owing to the presence of protein and fatty acids, milk products are exceptionally susceptible to spoilage and oxidation, which can lead to poor quality and flavor and a short shelf life. O’Sullivan and coworkers (O’Sullivan et al., 2014) discussed the effects of addition of the brown alga F. vesiculosus ethanolic extract (FVE) on lipid oxidation, microbial count, and shelf-life of whole milk. In addition to its intrinsic antioxidative and antimicrobial capacities, FVE significantly reduced lipid oxidation in milk, thus improving longevity. Similar functions were observed when FVE and ANE were applied to yogurt in that lipid oxidation was reduced with no effect on pH, microbiology, and whey separation, as well as enhanced consumer acceptance of yogurt supplemented with ANE (O’Sullivan et al., 2016). The addition of SWE to yogurt increased its elemental content, such as Ca, K, Mg, and Fe (Cofrades et al., 2013). It was unexpected that supplementation with extracts of C. crispus, Himanthalia elongata, Laminaria ochroleuca, Palmaria palmata, Porphyra umbilicalis, Ulva lactuca, and U. pinnatifida influenced the dynamics of various probiotics, respectively, attaining probiotic counts above 10⁸ cfu mL⁻¹ at the end of milk fermentation, which was meaningfully higher than in the control milk (del Olmo et al., 2019). SWEs applied in this study might benefit the survival of probiotic bacterial strains; therefore, this is of special practical interest for the dairy industry from the point of view of yogurt shelf-life. Further investigations should be conducted in regard to sensory characteristics and the mechanisms of how SWEs interact with milk bioactive components and how they influence the fate of the probiotic bacteria.

Adding seaweeds to various cheeses, e.g., cottage, smoked, and processed cheese, is known to improve their sensory and nutritional properties. Del Olmo et al. (2018) explored the effects of adding various dried seaweeds (i.e., H. elongata, L. ochroleuca, P. umbilicalis, U. lactuca, and U. pinnatifida) for supplementation on the microbiota and quality attributes of cheese and found that, after a 60-day ripening period, SWEs increased whey retention and moisture content. Himanthalia elongata significantly increased antioxidant activity and sensory values in cheese, while P. umbilicalis and U. lactuca limited the growth of gram-negative bacteria and coliforms (del Olmo et al., 2018). In another study, authors used layer-by-layer methodology to treat “Coalho” cheese with a nano-laminate coating containing layers of alginate and lysozyme during the preparation of cheese samples. This coating significantly lower mass loss, pH, lipidic peroxidation and microbial count, suggesting SWE-containing nano-coatings with a gas barrier and antimicrobial properties could be used to elongate the shelf-life of various cheeses (de S. Medeiros et al., 2014).

Other authors have explored the influence of sodium alginate isolated from Sargassum binderi on the stability and shelf life of brown rice milk, a healthy substitute that is cholesterol and lactose-free and low in fat for conventional cow milk (Latifah and Setiawan, 2019) through the analysis of dye degradation, deposition rate, and shelf-life at 4°C, it was found that alginate could help maintain pH value (at room temperature), increase the stability of brown rice milk, reduce microbial number (at room temperature), and retard the degradation rate of brown rice milk dyes.

Bakery products

Bakery products are some of the most distributed and consumed processed foods worldwide. There have been several studies evaluating the effects of various seaweed supplementations of wheat flour on the physicochemical, nutritional, and shelf-life properties of bakery and farinaceous foods prepared therefrom. A variety of SWEs have been used to control microbial growth in bread, where a decrease in the count of viable cells and molds in bread incorporated with Myagropsis myagroides (brown) was observed (Lee et al., 2010). Consistent results were obtained in bread with 1% and 2% Sargassum fulvellum extract (Kim et al., 2011) and 1% Sargassum siliquastrum (Lee et al., 2008). The latter showed higher moisture content as well as consumer preference. Other important objectives are to improve dough handling properties, increase the physical and nutritional quality, and extend the shelf-life of fresh and stored bakery goods by incorporation of various seaweeds and or some of their components (Mamat et al., 2014). The addition of some seaweeds could produce bitter tastes, owing to the protein hydrolysate of seaweed peptides (Fiszman and Varela, 2013), and contribute to seaweed aroma (Mouritsen et al., 2018); thus, appropriate inclusion rates and sensory evaluations should be carefully studied before launching new seaweed-enriched products. Another aspect to consider about seaweed-incorporated bakery foods is the benefits provided to satiety (Fahmi et al., 2022). A consumer test showed that a 4% inclusion rate of A. nodosum in bread enhanced satiety perception in healthy and overweight males (Hall et al., 2012). Table 9.4 presents the most relevant applications of brown, red, and green seaweeds for preserving bakery products and improving the acceptability of farinaceous foods. The antimicrobial capacity and antioxidant effects against lipid oxidation are attributed to the decreased microflora and increased shelf life. The positive results following seaweed addition can be readily translated into industrial applications with the aim of prolonging postharvest life and enhancing the nutritional and sensory values of bakery products. The diminishment of textural properties of bakery foods as well as reduced sensory attributes have been observed in some studies, probably due to the addition of too much seaweed (Roohinejad et al., 2017) —too much of a good thing— thus low inclusion levels of various seaweeds are probably preferred to cope with the expected texture quality without compromising sensory traits.

Table 9.4. Effect of various whole seaweed and SWE addition to bakery and farinaceous products for their food properties.

Food	Seaweed	Main effect	Reference
Chinese noodles	Monostroma nitidum (G)	Higher cooking yield with 6% seaweed and higher water absorption by the seaweed caused softer and spongier textural intensities in the noodles	Chang et al. (2011)
Chinese noodles	M. nitidum (G)	Higher cooking yield with 4% and 8% seaweed and softer and spongier textural intensities in the noodles	Chang and Wu (2008)
Breadsticks	Himanthalia elongata (B)	Increased total dietary fiber and total antioxidative activities, and acceptable edible texture and color	Cox and Abu-Ghannam (2013a)
Bread	Ascophyllum. nodosum (B)	Increased satiety	Hall et al. (2012)
Bread	Sargassum fulvellum (B)	Less humidity with extended shelf-life; reduced hardness and chewiness	Kim et al. (2011)
Biscuits	Caulerpa racemosa (G)	Increase water and oil absorption of flour mix and enhance nutritive potential (protein and fiber, phenolic content and antioxidant activity)	Kumar et al. (2018)
Instant fried noodles	Kappaphycus and Eucheuma Cottonii (R)	Increase protein, fat, ash and dietary fiber content; enhanced sensory color but reduced texture, aroma and flavor after frying	Kumoro et al. (2016)
Bread	Myagropsis myagroides (B)	Decreased total microbial count	Lee et al. (2010)
Bread	Kappaphycus alvarezii (R)	Increase stickiness properties and water absorption of the dough; increase bread firmness	Mamat et al. (2014)
Mille crepes cake	Eucheuma cottonii (R)	Increased taste (5% seaweed) and consumer’s acceptability	Ningsih and Anggraeni (2021)
Pasta	Undaria pinnatifida (B)	Increase moisture, fat total phenolics and raw fiber content, enhance in vitro antioxidant activities, with reduced sensory quality	Prabhasankar et al. (2009)
Fettucine paste	K. alvarezii (R)	Increase the content of water, ash, and fiber (20% seaweed)	Pramestika and Pujiastuti (2022)
Pasta	Fucus vesiculosus (B)	Increase pasta fiber content and attractiveness to panelists with low seaweed supplementation levels, with decrease in the fracturability of raw pasta	Ribeiro et al. (2022)
Castella cake	Ecklonia stolonifera (B)	Reduced total microbial cell count, increased antioxidant activity and acceptability	Yoon et al. (2009)

Note: B: brown; G: green; R: red seaweeds.

As reviewed above, postharvest applications of SWE could better prepare food products, e.g., fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, dairy, and processed food, for human consumption in terms of overall acceptability. Therefore, it can be concluded that seaweed-treated foods have the potential to cater to the nutritional and sensory preferences of purchasers.Read more

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The preharvest and postharvest application of salicylic acid and its derivatives on storage of fruit and vegetables: A review

Chunjun Chen, … Xiulian Li, in Scientia Horticulturae, 2023

2 Preharvest and postharvest treatment methods of salicylic acid and its derivatives

As shown in Fig. 1, four types of treatments with SA and its derivatives are widely used for fruit preservation, including preharvest spraying, postharvest fumigating, postharvest dipping and postharvest coating. Postharvest dipping is the process of immersing fruit in a salicylate solution for some time before allowing it to dry naturally at room temperature. The treatment effect of SA on fruit is dependent on the interaction of concentration (0.8 μmol L⁻¹ ∼ 5.0 mmol L⁻¹) and time (2 min ∼ 6 h), and varies from fruit varieties. It can be concluded that the fruits with inedible peel, like banana, chestnut and pineapple can tolerate higher concentration and longer treatment time, compared to the directly edible fruits without peeling, such as peach, grape, cherry, et al. Similar to dipping, coating is performed by immersing fruit in a mixture of SA and coating materials. Chitosan is a widely used coating material, that has various treatments when combined with SA. Ehteshami et al. (2020) mixed chitosan with a plasticizer of glycerol to coat the fruit after dipped the fruit in SA solution. Another effective coating method has been reported that fruit was coated with chitosan solution containing SA using a fine bristle brush (Sinha et al., 2021). The postharvest application of SA and its derivatives has been widely used in fruit storage with excellent preservation effects. However, the popularization and application of SA as a postharvest treatment may be limited by the low solubility of SA in water. And the peculiar smell of chitosan coating, which is caused by acetic acid, also has a negative influence on consumer satisfaction.

Table 1. Recent studies on the effect of salicylic acid and its derivatives on the quality of fruit and vegetables.

Treatment	Concentration and treatment time	Storage temperature and time	Storage effect	Refs.
SA	Postharvest storage in container with 0.1 and 1 mmol/L for 20 min	18 ± 2 °C for 12 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and total phenolics. Maintained the chlorophyll, phenolic, flavonoid and ascorbic acid content of asparagus.	Wei et al. (2011)
	Postharvest dipped in 4 mM for 10 min	0 °C for 30 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and total phenolics. Alleviated CI incidence and decay percentage. Maintained soluble solid, titratable acid contents, firmness and color of apricot.	Batool et al. (2021)
	Postharvest dipped in 1.0 mM for 15 min	1 °C for 50 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and total phenolics. Decreased CI incidence, browning and disease incidence of bamboo shoot.	Luo et al. (2012)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.8 mM for 6 h	20 ± 2 °C for 8 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Maintained soluble sugar and soluble solid. Decreased weight loss and decay percentage of banana.	Xu et al. (2019)
	Postharvest dipped in 2.0 mmol L ⁻ ¹ for 3 ∼ 5 min	0 °С for 40 d	Increased total soluble solids. Decreased weight loss and decay percentage of Barhi date.	Atia et al. (2018)
	Postharvest dipped in 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 g/L SA for 1 h	4 °С for 6 d	Inhibited browning of Chinese chestnut.	Zhou et al. (2015)
	Postharvest dipped in 2 mM for 2 min	12 ∼16 °C for 32 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Decreased disease incidence and decay percentage. Maintained firmness of citrus.	Zhu et al. (2016)
	Postharvest dipped in 1 mM for 10 min	2 °C for 45 d	Alleviated CI incidence. Decreased weight loss and softening of grape.	Cai et al. (2014)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mM for 5 min	ambient temperatures for 16 d	Maintained soluble solid and sugar contents. Reduced browning and decay percentage of grape.	Hazarika and Marak (2021)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.5% and 1.0% for 5 min	25 ± 2 °C for 6 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and anthocyanins pigments. Maintained total soluble solid and titratable acidity. Decreased browning and decay percentage of litchi.	Kumar et al. (2013)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.3 g L ⁻ ¹ for 5 min	28 ± 1 °C for 5 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Inhibited disease incidence of longan.	Chen et al. (2020b)
	Postharvest dipped 0.3 g L⁻¹ for 5 min	28 ± 1 °C for 5 d	Enhanced disease resistance of longan.	Chen et al. (2020a)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mmol L⁻¹ for 5 min	12 °C for 28 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Maintained soluble solid, sugar contents and firmness. Decreased decay percentage of papaya.	Hanif et al. (2020)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.05 mmol L ⁻ ¹ for 10 min	20 °C for 6 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and alleviated CI incidence of peach.	Yang et al. (2012)
	Postharvest dipped in 1 μmol L ⁻ ¹	4 ± 1 °C for 35 d	Alleviated CI incidence. Maintained sugar content of peach.	Zhao et al. (2021)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mM for 10 min	0 ± 0.5 °C for 28 d	Maintained the content of fruity note volatile esters, lactones and sugar. Alleviated CI incidence and browning of peach.	Yang et al. (2020)
	Postharvest dipped in 1 μmol L ⁻ ¹ for 15 min	4 ± 1 °C for 35 d	Alleviated CI incidence. Maintained sucrose content of peach.	Zhao et al. (2021)
	Postharvest dipped in 1 mM for 5 min	0 °C for 35 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and alleviated CI incidence of peach.	Cao et al. (2010)
	Postharvest dipped in 1.5 mM for 10 min	1 °C for 15 ∼ 30 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Alleviated CI incidence of plum.	Luo et al. (2011)
	Postharvest dipped in 1, 2, 3 and 4 mmol/L for 5 min	4 °C for 25 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and total phenolics. Maintained titratable acidity of plum.	Davarynejad et al. (2015)
	Postharvest dipped in 2 mM for 10 min	6 °C for 180 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and total phenolics. Maintained total sugar contents of pomegranate.	Koyuncu et al. (2019)
	Postharvest dipped in 2.5 and 5.0 mM for 1, 2, or 3 h	13 ± 1 °C for 10 d	Improved antioxidant capacity, phenolics and total sugar contents. Alleviated CI incidence and browning of queen pineapple.	Sangprayoon et al. (2019)
	Postharvest dipped in 1, 1.5 and 2 mM for 5 min	5 ± 1 °C for 42 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Delayed the metabolic activities of radish.	Devi et al. (2018)
	Postharvest dipped in 1 mM for 5 min	2 °C for 20 d	Improved antioxidant capacity, phenolics and bioactive compounds. Delayed fruit senescence of sweet cherry.	Valero et al. (2011)
	Postharvest dipped in 1 and 2 mM for 5 min	1 °C for 21 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Alleviated CI of tomato.	Aghdam et al. (2014)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.75 mM for 20 min	25 ± 1 °C for 15 d	Maintained the integrity of cell wall composition and firmness of tomato.	Kumar et al. (2021)
	Postharvest dipped in 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 μmol L ⁻ ¹ for 5 min	5 ∼ 7 °C for 75 d	Improved phenolic contents and retarded softening of mandarin.	Baswal et al. (2020)
	Postharvest dipped in 4 mM	5 ± 1 °C for 90 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity of mandarin.	Haider et al. (2021)
	Preharvest sprayed 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mM at pea stage and verasion	3 ∼ 4 °C for 75 d	Enhanced total phenolics. Delayed the ripening process, reduced browning and decay percentage of grape.	Champa et al. (2014)
	Preharvest sprayed 1, 2, 3 and 4 mmol L ⁻ ¹ at two stages.	23.8 ± 5 °C for 12 d	Improved antioxidant capacity, total phenolics and bioactive compounds of grape.	Gomes et al. (2021)
	Preharvest sprayed by 1 and 2 mM at two stages of fruit development	5 ± 1 °C for 30 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and total phenolics of Indian jujube.	Shanbehpour et al. (2020)
	Preharvest sprayed 0.5 mmol L ⁻ ¹ four times at 21 d intervals and the last application being made 3 d before harvest	8 °C for 35 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity and total phenolics. Decreased weight and firmness loss of lemon.	Serna-Escolano et al. (2021)
	Preharvest sprayed 1, 5 and 10 mM	10 °C for 90 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics of pomegranate.	García-Pastor et al. (2020)
	Preharvest sprayed 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mM at day 6 of the sprouting	5 ± 1 °C for 4 or 9 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics. Maintained chlorophylls concentration and total carotenoids concentration of sprout.	Supapvanich et al. (2019)
	Preharvest sprayed 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mM at 98, 112, 126 DAFB	20 °C for 138 ∼ 145 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics of sweet cherry.	Giménez et al. (2014)
MeSA	Postharvest storage in container with 0.05 mM for 12 h	2 ± 1 °C for 28 d	Alleviated CI incidence of cherry tomato.	Zhang et al. (2011)
	Postharvest storage in container with 50 and 100 µmol L ⁻ ¹ for 18 h	3 °C for 150 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and total phenolics. Delayed senescence process of blood oranges.	Habibi et al. (2020)
	Postharvest storage in container with 0.1 and 0.01 mM for 16 h	2 °C for 84 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics. Decreased firmness loss of pomegranates.	Sayyari et al. (2011)
	Postharvest storage in container with 0.1 and 1 mM for 16 h	2 °C for 20 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics. Decreased firmness loss of sweet cherry.	Giménez et al. (2016)
	Preharvest sprayed 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mmol/L at 72 d and 74 d after full blossom	2 °C for 32 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity. Alleviated CI incidence. Maintained soluble solid and organic acid. Decreased decay percentage of apricot.	Fan et al. (2021)
	Preharvest sprayed 0.1 mM	20 °C for 45 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics. Delayed berry ripening and reduced crop yield at high concentration (5 and 10 mM), accelerated ripening and increased yield at lower concentrations of grape.	Valero et al. (2011)
	Preharvest sprayed 1, 5 and 10 mM by taking into account the harvest dates of this cultivar in similar growing conditions	10 °C for 90 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics of pomegranates.	García-Pastor et al. (2020)
	Preharvest sprayed 1.0 mM at 3 d of growth cycle	2 °C for 28 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics. Delayed senescence process of sweet cherry.	Zhang et al. (2011)
ASA	Postharvest dipped in 1.0 mM for 5 min	20 °C for 10 d	Expedited the ripening process of kiwifruit.	Yin et al. (2013)
	Postharvest dipped in 1 mM for 10 min	2 °C for 20 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics. Delayed the ripening processes of sweet cherry.	Valero et al. (2011)
	Preharvest sprayed 0.1 and 1 mM	20 °C for 45 d	Enhanced antioxidant capacity, phenolics and bioactive compounds. Delayed berry ripening and reduced crop yield at high concentration (5 and 10 mM), accelerated ripening and increased yield at lower concentrations of grape.	Valero et al. (2011)
	Preharvest sprayed 1, 5 and 10 mM take into account the harvest dates of this cultivar in similar growing conditions	10 °C for 90 d	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolic compounds of pomegranate.	García-Pastor et al. (2020)
	Preharvest sprayed 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mM in 98, 112, 126 DAFB	20 °C for 138 ∼ 145 D	Improved antioxidant capacity and phenolics. Decreased firmness loss of sweet cherry.	Giménez et al. (2014)

Postharvest fumigating is generally used for MeSA because it is readily volatile. For postharvest fumigating treatment, the appropriate volumes of salicylates solutions were placed on filter paper at the bottom of the container, which can cause the volatile to fill the container quickly. Then the fruit was sealed in the container at room temperature for 12 ∼ 24 h This fumigating method of MeSA was helpful to improve the storage quality of pomegranate (Sayyari et al., 2011), sweet cherry (Giménez et al., 2016) and blood orange (Habibi et al., 2020). In addition, the direct contact between fruit and MeSA should be avoided and the fumigating time needs to be controlled rigorously to avoid causing irreversible damage to fruit during postharvest fumigating process.

Preharvest spraying is a method performed on trees at the key times before fruit harvest (Valverde et al., 2015). It’s worth noting that the salicylate solution for spraying is always combined with 0.5% of Tween 20, which leads to the better dissolution of salicylates in water and the better absorption by plants (Fan et al., 2021; Giménez et al., 2014; Valverde et al., 2015). For example, Valverde et al. (2015) reported that MeSA solution containing 0.5% of Tween 20 was sprayed at three critical moments of developmental process of cherry, including pit hardening, initial color changes and onset of ripening (Giménez et al., 2014). In another research, MeSA solution containing 0.5% of Tween 20 was sprayed twice on apricot trees at the 72d and 74d after full blossom to improve the storage quality of apricot (Fan et al., 2021). Compared with the methods of postharvest dipping, coating and fumigating, preharvest spraying is not involved in any postharvest operation, the handling time in salicylate solution or volatile gas at room temperature can be saved, leading to the fast transport from harvest to cold storage.