Stability and food security depends on
water activity and pH in the food environment. The
water activity is higher with the products are
perishable. Bat, even at low pH values and low aw,
certain yeast and mould species that can tolerate
high solute concentrations might pose a risk to the
stability of Intermediate Moisture Foods (IMF).
Currently, consumers prefer foods (vegetables and
fruits) processed at least. Therefore, safety
considerations are addressed seriously by food
microbiology [5, 13, 15].
There are different approaches to
conservation and stability of fresh fruit products.
Commercial, minimally processed fruits are fresh
(with high moisture), and are prepared for
convenient consumption and distribution to the
consumer in a fresh-like state. Minimum processing
includes preparation procedures such as washing,
peeling, cutting, packing, etc., after which the fruit
product is usually placed in refrigerated storage
where its stability varies depending on the type of
product, processing, and storage conditions.
However, product stability without refrigeration is
an important issue not only in developing countries but in industrialized countries as well. The principle
used by Leistner [13] for shelf-stable high moisture
meats (aw > 0.90), where only mild heat treatment
is used and the product still exhibits a long shelf
life without refrigeration, can be applied to other
foodstuffs. Fruits would be a good choice. Leistner
states that for industrialized countries, production
of shelf-stable products (SSP) is more attractive
than IMF because the required aw for SSP is not as
low and less humectants and/or less drying of the
product is necessary [6].