There's nothing worse than having your fresh fruit expire too soon as a producer or supplier.

This may harm your reputation and be costly to resolve. Not to mention the hundreds of millions of tonnes of food wasted and lost each year throughout the world.

Growers and exporters enhance the shelf life of their fruits and vegetables to give them the best chance of staying fresh.

Methods

Packaging Improvements and Modified-Atmosphere Packaging (MAP)

 Improving packaging is a simple way to increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. Packaging that extends the shelf life can regulate the rate of respiration, ripening, and microbiological development.

Extended seasonality, reduced food waste, and a better possibility of keeping freshness are advantages of longer shelf life.

The gases that surround an object are controlled using modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Limiting the amount of oxygen that surrounds fruit, for example, can extend its shelf life.

Pallet coverings, carton containers, and sheets can all aid with ethylene control.

Procedures for treatment and handling are being improved.

You must ensure that your treatments and handling procedures do not damage fruit or vegetable when picked.

Using polluted water to clean products or putting them in contaminated crates are examples of inadequate treatment practices.

Furthermore, ensuring that fresh produce is not subjected to high pressures would assist in preventing damage. Even slight issues might shorten the shelf life. It is critical to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) to guarantee correct handling.

Identifying Cold Chain Temperature Weaknesses

Maintaining a low temperature helps to prevent deterioration and microbial development. The products can be harmed if any portion of the cold chain between harvest and buyer is disrupted.

 According to one research, waiting four hours between harvest and precooling strawberries increased water loss by over 50%. It also detracted from the look when the package arrived at the distribution site.

 There are a few ways for recording temperature across the cold chain that are useful. This information can also be used to forecast shelf life.

Monitoring Humidity to Find Areas for Improvement

Temperature tracking isn't the only thing to keep track of. The two are frequently combined as well.

High humidity aids in the preservation of moisture in fruits and vegetables. Refrigeration can cause humidity loss, thus maintaining correct humidity levels is essential for shrink prevention.

IoT sensors monitor the temperature and humidity of products as they travel from the farm to the client, allowing for identifying areas for improvement.

Food Trays and Pads with Absorbents

Pads that can go in the containers of fresh-cut vegetables have seen a lot of experimentation. Pads absorb extra fluids and can aid to reduce the rate at which a product breathes.

Although they are currently widely utilized in the business, it's essential to stay current with the growing capabilities of absorbent pads.

Antimicrobials from nature

Antimicrobials like herbs, spices, and plant extracts can aid to prevent spoiling and improving shelf life.

 It's critical to look for natural alternatives to chemicals as buyers want safer components. This may also be utilized as a selling element to attract more clients.

Changing Varieties

Since the dawn of agriculture, people have been looking for innovative methods to create better-tasting varietals. Produce types with longer shelf lives are a focus now that our planet is increasingly spread out, and we ship across the globe.

The USDA, for example, just released a strawberry with a longer shelf life. After a week in cold storage, just 29% of the strawberries decayed, compared to 93% of Camarosa strawberries.

If you're open to trying new types, it's a good idea to keep an eye on what's available and weigh your options.

Coverings for Individual Items

Fresh vegetables with natural, plant-based coverings have recently gotten a lot of attention. Apeel, for example, has collected several hundred million dollars for their answer.

Produce deteriorates as a result of water loss and oxidation (a chemical process requiring oxygen). Apeel's covers keep moisture within while allowing oxygen to escape.

What immediate advantages would you gain if you could increase the shelf life of your produce by days or even weeks?

An answer is most likely a large number.

 You may accept more shipments, have less shrink and loss, and increase your profit margins.

Long-distance exports become possible, and you can ensure higher-quality fruits and vegetables.

 Conclusion

Reduced fresh produce food loss and waste lowers costs, enhances brand reputation, and aids in achieving sustainability objectives.

 There are numerous techniques to lengthen shelf life, and the optimum approach depends on the application.

 Another practical approach for decreasing food loss and waste is shelf life prediction, which does not involve physical product modifications.

FoodResearch Lab provides Sensory Evaluation Service

It is a scientific method to analyze and interpret the smell, sight, taste, touch response to a food product, and our trained experts will provide you with the analytical techniques to perfect your product.

Be it at home or in a food processing unit, we buy raw materials for making meals or a processed food. At home the quantity is less than in a food processing unit. Food raw materials are a susceptible to spoilage with time. It needs to withstand spoilage factors like enzymes or spoilage microbes. Water acts a major player in spoiling foods as well. The available water in foods increases the water activity and directly affects the shelf life of foods

Based on water activity, foods are of the following types:

i)               1. Low water activity foods(water activities (aw) below 0.6)

ii)              2.Medium water activity foods (water activity(aw) between 0.6 and 0.84)

iii)             3.High water activity foods (water activities (aw) between 0.84and 1.0)

The spoilage level depends upon the water activity level of the raw materials. Some of the methods used to

In Silos: Grains like wheat and rice need to remain dry to increase the shelf life for a longer period. Even a little bit of moisture in the form of humidity can cause it to form molds and grow bacteria and thereby degrade.

In Refrigeration: It is usually used for the preservation of vegetables that cannot be allowed to dry and at the same time need enough moisture to maintain the freshness. The temperature is regulated to serve the purpose. In-room temperature the vegetable may sustain for a day or two. In refrigerated condition, this shelf life is extended to three to seven days.

Cold chambers: Meat and seafoods are high water activity foods that get spoilt in a short duration.

Salting: Adding salt to food reduces the water availability to a minimum giving less to no water growth microbes.

Dehydration: Some foods need to reduce moisture content in order to stay for longer and need to be dehydrated by sun-drying or other drying methods.

Canning: Aseptically canning of foods prevents the growth of microbes. It can also involve pickling and canning foods.

Radiation: Foods are exposed to a certain amount of radiant energy which helps in controlling microbial growth.

Thermal methods: Processes like UHT and LTST ensures longer shelf life for fruit juices ad milk.

Non-thermal methods: Processes like HPP (High-Pressure Processing) ensure the properties o0of food are not lost due to heat.

Lemon: The use of lemon helps in the preservation of food. Lemon has citric acid which is acidic in nature that has natural antibacterial properties.

Smoking: Food subjected to smoke (for example pig meat) helps in forming certain chemicals that act as preservatives and add to the flavors as well.

Fermentation: Fermenting involves the use of a starter culture that has probiotic and prebiotic microbes helping in making tasty, delicious, and long-lasting recipes.

Vinegar: Vinegar or naturally available acetic acid acts as a preservative for foods for example in pickles.

Fumigation: In order to eradicate all the microbes and germs in the air, fumigation is done in storage areas at periodic intervals thereby reducing chances of spoilage.

Methods can also be used in combination to ensure food lasts for a long period.

The shelf life of raw material can also be preserved by covering it in shrink wraps while transportation. The hygiene of personnel working in a unit also affects the shelf life of the same. They must handle the food in a clean environment ensuring clean habits, clean clothes, headgear, gloves, and mask. Handling raw food to preserve for a longer time also involves use of sanitizers and soap for hand wash. The containers used to store the raw materials also must be hygienic to use. 

The racks and shelves used for keeping the raw material must be kept neat and free of dust and dirt to have clean raw material. Containers of food-grade must be used to pack raw paste and sauces. The pallets used to stack food raw material must be made of water resistant material like plastic. It has to be high enough so that water and dust from floor does not interfere with the food. Also in storage area, the pallets must be stacked 1m away from the wall so the dirt from walls are not attracted to the food. 

The flavoring agents like spices must be stored in air tight containers so that the aroma is not lost. The raw material storage area must be pest controlled to prevent invasion of rats and other pests. Ants are frequent visitors to raw material kept in go downs for long and need to be taken care of by disinfectants.