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Packaging of Minimally Processed Fruits and Vegetables

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Minimally Processed Refrigerated Fruits & Vegetables

Abstract

A food package must protect and contain the product from the place and time of manufacture to the point of consumption (IFT 1991). Packaging of fresh produce using polymeric films has been practiced for several decades to contain and protect fruits and vegetables from environmental contaminants. Moreover, perforated polymeric packaging film has long been used successfully to reduce moisture loss from produce during storage, shipment, and display by reducing the magnitude of the moisture vapor deficit between the produce and its immediate in-package environment. In more current times, unperforated polymeric film packages have been used to minimize moisture loss and reduce respiration rate of produce commodities; most recently minimally processed fruits and vegetables have been packaged in polymeric film in an effort to maintain product quality while extending shelf-life.

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Schlimme, D.V., Rooney, M.L. (1994). Packaging of Minimally Processed Fruits and Vegetables. In: Wiley, R.C. (eds) Minimally Processed Refrigerated Fruits & Vegetables. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2393-2_4

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