High Pressure Processing of Fruits and Vegetables: A Review

Fruits and vegetables are considered as protective foods and received importance in healthy diet plan. Postharvest loss in quality as well as quantity of fruits and vegetables is huge due to seasonal production, high perishability, shorter shelf life and preservation through processing is one of the best methods to minimise the loss. Thermal methods are more popular and these traditional methods of fruit and vegetable preservation often affect the quality of final products in terms of color, taste, flavor and nutritional qualities. Demand for fruit and vegetable products with ‘fresh like’ qualities are increasing and there is a shift of thermal methods of processing to non-thermal methods to improve the quality of processed products. Several non-thermal methods of processing are developed in order to meet the consumer demand of which high pressure processing has proven to be extremely valuable for fruit and vegetable products. It is an emerging technology in juice and beverage sector which allow fruit and vegetable juices as well as smoothies to store safely for a longer time with fresh taste while preserving its nutritional quality.