Microwaves in Postharvest Applications with Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are an increasing part of our diets as they are a recognized source of health enhancing nutrients. The use of microwaves to ensure product quality for minimally processed fruits and vegetables is gaining popularity. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. In this review we concentrated on research conducted at the 2450 MHz frequency. The special microwave-matter interaction mechanisms make microwaves a special format of energy that can bring many advantages to various applications in post-harvest handling of horticultural crops. The principal advantage in the use of microwave energy is the great reduction in processing time which often yields higher end-product quality. Microwave power has been used for hightemperature-short time thermal treatments of fresh commodities for disinfection, disinfestations, control of ripening, to impede on senescence and for the retention of phytochemicals. The study of the microwave permittivity of the produce can provide information on its quality, maturity and moisture content and can be used in sensing as a process control measure. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________