Kiwifruit is native to Asia and has become popular worldwide due to its sensory and nutritional properties. It contains high levels of bioactive compounds such as vitamin C vitamin E, flavonoids, carotenoids and minerals. Kiwifruits show a wide diversity in size, shape, fuzziness, flesh and peel color and flavor. The export of fresh kiwifruit has led to rapid expansion of kiwifruit industry through out the world. kiwifruit has become a commonly consumed fruit and is easily available round the year. Kiwifruit is largely consumed as fresh but it is also available in processed forms as juices, fortified drinks, candies, dehydrated and lyophilized products. Kiwifruit is also minimally processed to provide consumers with ready to eat products. Different preservation techniques have been used so far to preserve minimally processed kiwifruit. Here we are going to review some of these techniques.

The present study focuses on studying the influence of various edible biopolymer coatings at several concentrations on physicochemical, antioxidant and lipid peroxidation activity levels of biopolymer-coated fresh-cut kiwi slices stored at room temperature (relative humidity: 90%). Kiwi slices were coated by dipping in xanthan gum (0.1, 0.2, 0.3% w/v), alginate (1, 2, 3% w/v) and chitosan (0.25, 0.50, 0.75% w/v) solutions for 2 min. Kiwi fruit slices without any treatment were designated as the control. Compared to the control, all coated samples retained higher ascorbic acid, titratable acidity, total phenolic component and antioxidant capacity levels. However, xanthan-gum-coated slices retained significantly higher amounts of total phenolics in comparison to alginate- and chitosan-coated slices (p ≤ 0.05). HPLC analysis showed the presence of neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, ellagic acid and epicatechin. The results suggest that the xanthan gum can be utilized to enhance the shelf life of fresh-cut kiwi slices without compromising quality.