Prospects of UV radiation for application in postharvest technology

Abstract

UV light has been used as a germicidal agent in water treatment and surfaces disinfection because of its capacity to affect DNA of microorganisms. On the other hand, low doses of UV-C irradiation can trigger some favourable reactions in biological organs, such as fruits and vegetables, which can lead to various beneficial effects, such as improvement of their shelf-life or increase in the content of health promoting components. The objective of this work is to review the results of some recent works on the UV application on post harvested fruits and vegetables taking into account both, its direct germicidal activity and its hormectic effects. After the presentation of the hormesis concept, the application of UV to read-to-use fruit and vegetables and, specifically, to various fruits and vegetables, is discussed. The use of UV radiation strictly for hormectic purposes at commercial scale, still needs to be further investigated.