Introduction
Minimally processed (MP) fruits are new forms of product marketing intended to meet the consumers desires
for convenience and fresh-like quality.
Minimal processing includes operations such as washing, sorting, peeling, coring and cutting, althoughthe product is still unavoidably wounded and its shelf life greatly diminished compared to the intact fruit. The physiology of MP fruits is essentially the physiology of wounded tissue (Brecht, 1995). Physiological and biochemicalchanges in such products occur at a faster rate than in intact fruits. Mechanical injury sets off a complex
series of events which result in loss of quality. Wounding stimulates respiration rate, induces ethylene synthesis, oxidation of phenols, enzymatic activity, and
microbiological development, leading to an accelerated loss of quality, especially colour and firmness attributes.
Control of wounding is therefore the major obstacle that must be overcome for extension of the shelf life of MP fruits.