Fresh-cut fruit products for both retail and food service applications
have increasingly appeared in the market place recently. In
the coming years, it is commonly perceived that the fresh-cut fruit
industry will have unprecedented growth. For this reason, many
leading fresh-cut salad manufacturers have targeted development
of fresh-cut fruit products as part of their long-term business plans.
Fresh-cut vegetables for cooking are the largest segment of the
fresh-cut produce industry. Fresh-cut salads are another major
category, as consumers perceive them as being healthy. Fresh-cut
fruit is growing very fast and makes up about 11 and 5% of total
sales in Japan and Korea, respectively. However, processors of freshcut
fruit products will face numerous challenges not commonly
encountered during fresh-cut vegetable processing. The difficulties
encountered with fresh-cut fruit, while not insurmountable,
require a new and higher level of technical and operational
sophistication. Post-harvest quality loss is primarily a function of
respiration, onset or progression of ripening (climacteric fruit),
water loss (transpiration), enzymatic discoloration of cut surfaces,
decay (microbial), senescence and mechanical damage suffered
during preparation, shipping, handling and processing (Schlimme
& Rooney, 1994; Watada, Ko, & Minott, 1996). The quality changes of
treated fresh-cut tropical fruits packaged in thermoformed plastic
containers had been tested and evaluated (Singh, Chonhenchob,
Chantarasomboon, & Singh, 2007). Extended shelf life was
observed in fresh-cut mangoes, pineapples, and mixes packaged in
PET due to reduced O2 and elevated CO2 atmosphere. Modified
atmosphere of 6% O2 and 14% CO2 achieved in PET extended the
shelf life of fresh-cut pineapples from 6 to 13 days. The results
suggest that shelf life of fresh-cut fruit could be extended using
appropriate semi-rigid containers.